Risk factors for child neglect

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Abstract

Child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment in the US, yet it has received comparatively little research attention. This is no doubt in part due to difficulty defining and operationalizing the construct of neglect. Despite these challenges, a small body of literature investigating risk factors for child neglect has accumulated. This paper reviews this literature, providing effect sizes when possible. Parental demographic, psychological, and behavioral characteristics as well as child, family, and neighborhood factors are reviewed. Although few factors have been examined in more than one study, when taken together, the findings suggest that parental behavioral and psychological characteristics may have the largest relations to neglect, and that limited socioeconomic resources are the most consistently documented risk factor for neglect.

Section snippets

Selection criteria for review

To be included in this review, a study must have: (a) been published in a psychological, medical, or sociological journal, (b) been an empirical evaluation of the association between one or more risk factors and child neglect, and (c) employed either a representative community sample, or a clinical sample with an appropriate comparison group. Although studies of clinical samples without matched comparison samples can be valuable exploratory and descriptive tools, they are not appropriate for

Maternal/parental characteristics

Most of the research on risk factors for child neglect has focused on characteristics that distinguish neglectful from non-neglectful parents. Mothers, and less frequently fathers, who are reported to child protective agencies for child neglect differ significantly from controls on a number of characteristics. Among the variables that have been studied as risk factors for child neglect are demographic characteristics, parenting behavior (as measured through self-report questionnaires and

Child variables

Various child variables have also been investigated as risk factors for neglect. As with any type of maltreatment, the finding that victims of child neglect may possess certain characteristics associated with increased risk for such maltreatment should not be taken as evidence that these victims cause the maltreatment they receive. Given that most of this research is correlational, it cannot be determined with certainty whether these factors precede or are the result of having been neglected.

Family variables

Williamson et al. (1991) investigated the relation between family variables and child neglect. These researchers compared neglected adolescent children (n=12) and non-maltreated children (n=12) on the A-FILE (McCubbin, Patterson, Bauman, and Harris, 1985). The A-FILE is completed by adolescents and measures the overall amount of stress experienced in their families (e.g., moving to a new home, death of a family member). Neglected children were more likely to come from families experiencing high

Community variables

Drake and Pandey (1996) conducted an ecological investigation of risk factors for child neglect. This population-level study included 185 zip codes in Missouri each including 1000 or more families. Rather than investigating individual-level risk factors for child neglect, these researchers looked at the ways characteristics of a community might relate to risk. Drake and Pandey found that communities with greater poverty, school dropout, and proportionally fewer two-parent families had

Conclusion

This paper reviewed the published literature on risk factors for child neglect. Many maternal variables are associated with increased risk for child neglect, including psychological variables such as some dimensions of social support, self-esteem, and impulsivity are associated fairly strongly with increased risk for child neglect. Additionally, many factors or scales on measures developed to assess physical abuse propensity also differentiate neglectful mothers. Mothers' behaviors during

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the partnership of (a) the US Air Force Family Advocacy Program and (b) the US Department of Agriculture National Network on Family Resilience (contract CR-4953-545735).

Thanks to Col. John Nelson (Director of US Air Force Family Advocacy Program) and to the outgoing USAF-FAP Research Director, Lt. Col. Carla A. Monroe-Posey (ret.) for supporting these reviews. Thanks also to our USDA-NNFR project administrators, Drs. Craig Allen (Iowa State) and Sandra Stith (Virginia

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      Depending on the country and definition, child neglect estimates range from 16 % (Butchart & Mikton, 2014) to 75 % (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2019). Numerous risk factors elevate children’s likelihood of experiencing maltreatment, including poor parent-child relationships, ineffective parenting strategies, confusion about child development, parenting stress, family conflict and lack of resources and knowledge (Black, Heyman, & Smith Slep, 2001; Schumacher, Slep, & Heyman, 2001). Children exposed to abuse and neglect are at heightened risk for negative mental and physical health outcomes throughout their lifespan (World Health Organization, 2016).

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