Open AccessWhat About the Children? Co-Occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Parental Separation
Author(s) -
Sheila R. van Berkel,
Mariëlle J. L. Prevoo,
Mariëlle Linting,
F.D. Pannebakker,
Lenneke R. A. Alink
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
child maltreatment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.185
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1552-6119
pISSN - 1077-5595
DOI - 10.1177/10775595221130074
Subject(s) - neglect , separation (statistics) , psychology , child abuse , poison control , developmental psychology , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , child neglect , physical abuse , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , medical emergency , machine learning , computer science
The aim of this study was to investigate (a) the extent to which child maltreatment co-occurs with parental separation and (b) associations between different types of child maltreatment and various types of separation-associated interparental conflict. Professionals working with children ( N = 785) reported each case of suspected child maltreatment they observed during a 3-month period and indicated whether parental divorce or separation was about to take place or had taken place. This resulted in 530 reported cases that matched the definitions of child maltreatment for which information on parental relationship status was available. Most of the maltreated children (60%) also experienced (impending) parental separation. In 69% of these cases child maltreatment was associated with parental separation. Particularly, cases of emotional neglect, and emotional abuse co-occurred with parental separation. In addition, four clusters of separation-associated interparental conflict were distinguished- No observed conflict , Non-physical conflict , Verbal and physical conflict , and Multiple conflict- which were associated with child and family characteristics and specific types of child maltreatment. The results of this study suggest that child maltreatment often co-occurs with parental separation, especially when there is a considerable amount of interparental conflict.