Psychological maltreatment: Definition and reporting barriers among American professionals in the field of child abuse

From Maltreatment to Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: The Relevance of Emotional Maltreatment

Different forms of maltreatment are thought to incur a cumulative and non-specific toll on mental health. However, few large-scale studies draw on psychiatric diagnoses manifesting in early childhood and adolescence to identify sequelae of differential maltreatment exposures, and emotional maltreatment, in particular. Fine-grained multi-source dimensional maltreatment assessments and validated age-appropriate clinical interviews were conducted in a sample of N = 778 3 to 16-year-olds. We aimed to (a) substantiate known patterns of clinical outcomes following maltreatment and (b) analyse relative effects of emotional maltreatment, abuse (physical and sexual), and neglect (physical, supervisory, and moral-legal/educational) using structural equation modeling. Besides confirming known relationships between maltreatment exposures and psychiatric disorders, emotional maltreatment exerted particularly strong effects on internalizing disorders in older youth and externalizing disorders in younger children, accounting for variance over and above abuse and neglect exposures. Our data highlight the toxicity of pathogenic relational experiences from early childhood onwards, urging researchers and practitioners alike to prioritize future work on emotional maltreatment.

'It's not like we use the word emotional abuse'. A study on Norwegian child welfare workers understanding of emotional abuse

BACKGROUND

Despite the recognition of emotional abuse (EA) as the most pervasive and harmful of all forms of child maltreatment, it is argued to be less understood than other forms of child maltreatment. EA is regarded as a standalone form for maltreatment and an essential factor embedded in all other forms of maltreatment of children, such as physical and sexual abuse. Thus, it is crucial for child welfare workers to understand EA, as one of their core mandates is to prevent and protect children from all forms of maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore how child welfare workers in Norway describe and understand EA.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The study included 24 child welfare workers in 6 child welfare offices in Norway.

METHODS

The data were obtained from focus group interviews and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, the findings reveal that EA was unfamiliar to the child welfare workers, and that there is a low degree of awareness on EA among the study participants. Further, EA is closely connected to whether parents provide sufficient emotional care for their children and is understood as part of the complex situation surrounding the child.

CONCLUSIONS

This article concludes with the need for reflective and sensitive discussions regarding understanding and awareness of EA in child welfare work. This has the potential to lead to greater insights into how EA is understood by child welfare workers as well as to enhance child welfare workers' abilities to describe, communicate about, and document EA.

Current issues and challenges in the definition and operationalization of child maltreatment: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Studies show considerable variability in the definitions and operationalization of child maltreatment (CM), which limits research, policy formation, surveillance, and cross-country and cross-sector comparisons.

OBJECTIVE

To review the recent literature (2011-2021) to understand current issues and challenges in defining CM, to assist in the planning, testing and implementing of CM conceptualizations.

METHODS

We searched eight international databases. Articles were included if the substantive content was related to issues, challenges, and debates in defining CM, and the article was an original study, review, commentary, report, or guideline. The review followed methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews and was reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Four experts in CM conducted a thematic analysis to summarize findings. Methodological rigor of the included studies was not formally assessed.

RESULTS

We identified 7372 potentially relevant articles; 55 full-text studies were assessed for eligibility, 25 satisfied the inclusion criteria. We identified three themes: 1) strategies to define CM, including the integration of child and victim perspectives; 2) difficulties in defining specific CM types; and 3) real-world implications for research, prevention and policy.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite longstanding concerns, challenges regarding the definitions of CM persist. A small minority of studies have tested and implemented CM definitions and operationalizations in practice. The findings will inform international multi-sectoral processes to develop uniform definitions of CM, for example by highlighting the need to acknowledge challenges in defining some CM types and emphasizing the importance of considering the perspectives of children and CM survivors.

Child abuse and wellbeing: Examining the roles of self-compassion and fear of self

INTRODUCTION

Childhood abuse is linked to poorer well-being, yet some survivors show no prolonged effect, suggesting multifinality. Men and women also differ in the experience and sequelae of abuse supporting gender-specific analyses. To assist in circumventing poor outcomes associated with child abuse, this study examined fear of self (FoS) and self-compassion (SC) as risk and protective factors between child abuse and well-being.

METHOD

Australian women (N = 1302, M_age = 47.28 [13.63]) completed an online assessment of childhood abuse, psychological distress, perceived quality of life, SC, FoS. Moderated-moderation examined the different abuses as predictors of psychological distress and quality of life (QoL) and FoS and SC as primary and secondary moderators, respectively.

RESULTS

Physical abuse did not predict psychological distress or QoL. FoS and SC were independent predictors of distress and QoL. Similarly, childhood sexual abuse was not found to predict distress or QoL. FoS and SC were independent predictors of distress and QoL. There was also an interaction between childhood sexual abuse and SC in predicting QoL. A moderated-moderation was found for the relationship between child sexual abuse and distress. Psychological abuse predicted distress and QoL, and FoS and SC both moderated this relationship. Moreover, a moderated-moderation was observed for the relationship between psychological abuse and QoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater FoS is associated with poorer outcomes for child abuse survivors; SC may mitigate this impact. Psychological abuse was the strongest predictor of well-being. Interventions that increase SC and raise awareness of psychological abuse and its impacts are needed.

Psychological maltreatment: An operationalized definition and path toward application

Psychological maltreatment (PM) of children has been difficult to define and even more challenging to operationalize consistently. This fact contributes to child PM being under-recognized and under-addressed by professionals that interact with children with mental health, behavioral, and developmental issues; and by systems such as child welfare, clinical and judicial systems. In this paper, we propose a definition of child PM that is both overarching and operationalized in a manner that will support consistent, fair, and unbiased application in applied contexts. The operationalized definition delineates the nature of caregiver acts that can amount to PM, as well as the level of experienced and potential impact of said act (s) that constitute PM. We detail our rationale for the definition. We discuss the need for field trials to establish the utility of the definition. We explain the necessary training and systems that would be required for the definition to be consistently and accurately applied. We believe that this definition has the potential to substantially enhance systems' abilities to recognize and address child PM, and thereby enhance children's and families' wellbeing.

You Hurt Me, so I Hurt Myself and Others: How Does Childhood Emotional Maltreatment Affect Adolescent Violent Behavior and Suicidal Ideation?

Violent behavior and suicidal ideation are two major public health problems, with the former representing outward attack and the latter characterizing inward attack. The effects of emotional maltreatment in childhood will continue into adolescence. This study explores the impact of childhood emotional maltreatment on adolescent violent behavior/suicidal ideation and its mechanism. Participants were 3,600 adolescents (average age is 16.21 ± 0.99) from the middle east of China. They completed questionnaires measuring emotional maltreatment in childhood, deviant peer affiliation, depression, violent behavior, and suicidal ideation in adolescence. After controlling for demographic variables, we found that deviant peer affiliation and depression mediated between childhood emotional maltreatment and adolescent violent behavior/suicidal ideation. Multi-group analysis results showed that males' deviant peer affiliation would contribute to their violent behaviors. Among female groups, deviant peer affiliation and depression were risk factors for violent behavior and suicidal ideation. a) cross-sectional design was used in this study; b) all the measures were self-reported. Preventing emotional maltreatment in childhood can help reduce violent behavior and suicidal ideation by reducing deviant peer affiliation and depression in adolescence. Males who experienced emotional maltreatment in childhood are more likely to show violent behaviors shaped by external factors such as deviant peer affiliation. In contrast, females' interpersonal orientation and internalizing factors both influence their external and internal aggressive behaviors.

Child psychological/emotional abuse and neglect: A definitional conceptual framework

Purpose

This study developed a definitional conceptual framework to clarify the nature of the definitions of psychological/emotional abuse and neglect (PEA) and to test the efficacy of this framework by applying it to three different types of definitions.

Methods

The definitional conceptual framework was developed from conceptual issues addressed by the previous literature. The framework was then applied to three types of definitions: (i) abstract definitions in the literature describing what PEA is, (ii) operational definitions in practice guidelines provided for professionals, and (iii) research studies on professionals' definitions of PEA.

Results

The framework was able to show that definitions of PEA were often not specific about their inherent definitional components or how the ways in which they were similar or different from other definitions. To the extent that the nature of the definitions was explicit, the framework was able to clearly distinguish the considerable variation in the nature of PEA definitions both within and across the three types of definitions.

Conclusions

Policy, practice, and research on PEA (and other forms of child abuse and neglect) are unlikely to progress without clarity about the definitions being used (in terms of their conceptual components) and the rationale for using the specific definitions chosen. The framework provided by the study is an effective tool for describing the components used in PEA definitions and thus distinguishing the differences between definitions. The framework should also be applicable for other types of child abuse and neglect.

Longitudinal Association Between Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect and Academic Achievement in Chinese Primary School Children: A Moderated Mediation Model

To investigate the relationships among child psychological abuse and neglect (CPAN), children’s learning engagement, family socioeconomic status (family SES), and children’s academic achievement, 271 children (M_age = 9.41 ± 0.81 years old) and their parents participated in this study with a longitudinal design. Results revealed that learning engagement at T1 mediated the relationship between CPAN at T1 and academic achievement at T2 when gender, age, grade, and academic achievement at T1 were under control. Family SES at T1 moderated the relationship between children’s learning engagement at T1 and academic achievement at T2. The association between learning engagement and academic achievement was stronger among children from lower family SES. Our findings highlighted the negative impact of CPAN and the critical role of learning engagement in children’s academic achievement, especially for those from low SES families.