Dimensions of Child Maltreatment in Australians With a History of Out-of-Home Care.

Journal: Child maltreatment

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Affiliated Institutions:  Faculty of Education and Arts, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia. School of Social & Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia. QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Institute for Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich, London, UK. School of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Abstract summary 

Research suggests that the dimensions of childhood maltreatment (type, age of onset, duration, frequency and perpetrator) play an important role in determining health and wellbeing outcomes, though little information is available on these dimensions for any care experienced cohorts. This study aimed to determine if any variation in maltreatment dimensions were experienced between two subsets of the nationally representative Australian Child Maltreatment Study, both of which reported childhood maltreatment histories: care-experienced ( = 358) and non-care-experienced ( = 4922). Using a series of independent t-tests and chi-square tests, we compared the two groups on seven dimensions (number of maltreatment types, range of maltreatment items, age of onset, duration, frequency, perpetrator number, and perpetrator type) for the five child maltreatment types (physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence). Results showed that the care-experienced group reported a higher intensity of maltreatment, being younger when maltreatment first started, experiencing greater variety of maltreatment types, for longer periods, more times and by more perpetrators than maltreated people with no care experience. We conclude that children and young people in out-of-home care experience maltreatment at a higher intensity than the rest of the population, which has implications for effective treatment.

Authors & Co-authors:  Harris Lottie G LG Higgins Daryl J DJ Willis Megan L ML Lawrence David D Meinck Franziska F Thomas Hannah J HJ Malacova Eva E Scott James G JG Pacella Rosana R Haslam Divna M DM

Study Outcome 

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Citations : 
Authors :  10
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1177/10775595241297944
SSN : 1552-6119
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
child protective services;foster care;maltreatment;measurement;public health;t-tests
Study Design
Study Approach
Country of Study
Publication Country
United States