Links between physical abuse in childhood and child neglect among adolescent mothers

Jessica Dym Bartlett and M. Ann Easterbrooks

Children and Youth Services Review, 2012, vol. 34, issue 11, 2164-2169

Abstract: Children born to the youngest mothers are at substantial risk for neglect. Neglect is multiply determined, but a maternal childhood history of maltreatment is an especially influential parenting determinant. This study investigated the etiology of neglect among very young mothers (<17years; n=92), focusing on adolescents' experiences in childhood. We hypothesized that a history of childhood physical abuse would increase the odds of neglect, whereas a history of childhood positive care would decrease the odds of neglect. Results showed that one in four mothers was neglectful, and neglect was four times as likely with a maternal history of physical abuse in childhood than with no history of maltreatment. As expected, a maternal history of positive care in childhood decreased the likelihood of neglect. Mothers with a history of both childhood physical abuse and positive care were not at increased risk for neglect, suggesting a compensatory effect of care experiences within the context of an abusive relationship. Findings affirm that adolescent mothers are at considerable risk for perpetuating cycles of maltreatment leading to child neglect, and that nuanced descriptions of their childhood histories are essential for understanding cycles of maltreatment.

Keywords: Child neglect; Adolescent parenting; History of childhood maltreatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074091200285X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:34:y:2012:i:11:p:2164-2169

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.07.011

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().