Dimensions of child maltreatment in Australians with a history of out-of-home care
Journal article
Harris, Lottie G., Higgins, Daryl J., Willis, Megan L., Lawrence, David, Meinck, Franziska, Thomas, Hannah J., Malacova, Eva, Scott, James G., Pacella, Rosana and Haslam, Divna M.. (2024). Dimensions of child maltreatment in Australians with a history of out-of-home care. Child Maltreatment. pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595241297944
Authors | Harris, Lottie G., Higgins, Daryl J., Willis, Megan L., Lawrence, David, Meinck, Franziska, Thomas, Hannah J., Malacova, Eva, Scott, James G., Pacella, Rosana and Haslam, Divna M. |
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Abstract | 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 (n = 358) and non-care-experienced (n = 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. |
Keywords | foster care; child protective services; maltreatment; measurement; public health; t-tests |
Year | 2024 |
Journal | Child Maltreatment |
Journal citation | pp. 1-15 |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
ISSN | 1077-5595 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595241297944 |
PubMed ID | 39499703 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85209100383 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Page range | 1-15 |
Funder | National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) |
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Government | |
Department of Social Services, Australian Government | |
Australian Institute of Criminology | |
European Research Council (ERC) | |
European Union Horizon 2020 | |
UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund | |
Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research | |
Department of Health, Queensland Government | |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | In press |
Publication dates | |
Online | 05 Nov 2024 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 08 May 2025 |
Grant ID | APP1158750 |
852787 | |
ES/S008101/1 | |
APP1137969 | |
Additional information | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/91vzq/dimensions-of-child-maltreatment-in-australians-with-a-history-of-out-of-home-care
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Publisher's version
OA_Harris_2024_Dimensions_of_child_maltreatment_in_Australians.pdf | |
License: CC BY 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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