Mothers' work conditions, income, and parenting of young children.

Objective: In this study, we investigated the interplay of positive work conditions with parenting behaviors across children's first 4 years. Background: Most mothers in the United States are employed in paid work during their children's early years. Research typically has focused on the ways that such employment can conflict with the intensive demands of parenting, but it can also help mothers socially and psychologically during this important period of children's development. Method: Integrating federal survey data on occupational conditions with parenting reports of job flexibility and parenting behaviors from 5,250 mothers in the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, we estimated how work conditions were associated with stimulating and sensitive parenting and whether these associations were stronger for mothers with lower income. Results: Results of autoregressive modeling demonstrated that job flexibility, opportunities for mastery, and opportunities for connection were positively associated with a composite measure of stimulating and sensitive parenting. Significant interactions indicated that many associations were more pronounced for mothers with lower income. Conclusion: Our results build upon prior work, demonstrating that positive work conditions can support parenting during early childhood and that this is especially true for low-income households. Implications: These results bridge the work-family and parenting literatures with important policy implications, such as adopting family-friendly policies within companies.

Trajectories of resilience among young children involved with child protective services.

Although child maltreatment is associated with short- and long-term maladaptive outcomes, some children are still able to display resilience. Currently, there is a limited understanding of how children's resilience changes over time after experiencing maltreatment, especially for young children. Therefore, the current study used a longitudinal, multidimensional approach to examine trajectories of resilience among very young children involved in child protective services and determine whether placement setting and caregiving behaviors are associated with resilience trajectories. This study used data from National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being I and conducted repeated measures latent class analysis, focusing on children under 2 years old at baseline (n = 1,699). Results suggested that there were three trajectories of resilience: increasing resilience, decreasing resilience, and stable, low resilience. Caregiver cognitive stimulation was related to increasing trajectories of resilience compared to both decreasing and stable, low resilience. These findings illustrate the importance of caregiving behaviors for promoting resilience among a particularly vulnerable population.

Foster Care, Kinship Care, and the Transition to Adulthood: Do Child Welfare System Processes Explain Differences in Outcomes?

Despite longstanding policy preferences favoring kinship care placements over non-relative family foster care placements, research findings on the benefits of kinship care vary by measurement, assessed outcome, follow-up period, and other study design elements. We examined early adulthood outcomes-incarceration and teen parenthood-among WI youth who entered foster care in early-to-middle childhood (ages 5-10). Results suggest that initial placement in kin or nonrelative kinship care was not significantly related to imprisonment or teenage parenthood directly; however, first placement in kinship care is associated with fewer moves, longer duration in care, and a higher probability of a new maltreatment investigation, which in turn is related to long-term outcomes. Further, a new maltreatment investigation was an important mediator and was significantly associated with a higher probability of incarceration and teenage parenthood. This study provides mechanisms on the ways in which first placement setting influences incarceration and teenage parenthood. Findings provide important policy and practice implications on how children's experiences in foster care, based on their initial placement type, can lead to maladaptive outcomes.

Can early childhood education be compensatory? Examining the benefits of child care among children who experience neglect.

Children that experience neglect are at risk for maladaptive outcomes. One potential resource for these children is early childhood education (ECE), but there is currently limited evidence which is compounded by data limitations. This study used data from the National Study of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (N = 1,385) to compare children's cognitive and social-emotional outcomes among children involved in child protective services that experienced either no care, informal care, or formal care, as well as moderation by type of neglect. Results suggest that ECE was related to increased cognitive and social skills and decreased behavior problems, depending on whether the child attended informal or formal care, with some associations being stronger for children that experienced neglect. These findings have implications for practitioners and policymakers in the intersection of ECE and child protective services.

Disentangling Poverty From Neglect: Using a Person-Centered Approach to Examine Risk Factors for Neglect Among Families in Poverty.

Approximately 18% of U.S. children under 5 years old live in poverty, which is one of the strongest predictors of child neglect. However, most families in poverty do not engage in neglect and this may be due to heterogeneity in risk factors. This study examined how risk factors co-occurred among families in poverty across early childhood and whether risk profiles were differentially related to physical and supervisory neglect across time. Results suggested there were four risk profiles across early childhood (i.e., years 1 and 3). At year 1, the four profiles in order of prevalence were: Low Risk, High Risk, Depressed and Uninsured, and Stressed with Health Problems. At year 3, the profiles were: Low Risk, High Risk, Depressed with Residential Instability, and Stressed with Health Problems. Overall, the High Risk profile was associated with more physical and supervisory neglect across time compared to the Low Risk profile; however, the Stress with Health Problems profile was also associated with greater physical neglect. These findings illustrate heterogeneity in the risk factors among families in poverty and demonstrate the differential impact of risk exposure on later neglect. Results also provide evidence to practitioners and policymakers about target risk experiences to prevent neglect.

Longitudinal examination of resilience among child welfare-involved adolescents: The roles of caregiver-child relationships and deviant peer affiliation.

Despite growing attention to resilience following childhood maltreatment, it remains unclear how the development of resilience unfolds over time among child welfare-involved adolescents. Further, little is known about the immediate and enduring effects of two important attachments in children's lives, namely caregiver-child relationship and deviant peer affiliation, on resilience development over time. This study sought to examine the ways in which caregiver-child relationships and deviant peer affiliation shape developmental trajectories of resilience among child welfare-involved youth. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Latent growth curve modeling was conducted on a sample of 711 adolescents. The results revealed that adolescents' resilience increased across a 36-month period since initial contact with Child Protective Services. Better caregiver-child relationships were associated with a higher initial level of resilience among adolescents, whereas higher deviant peer affiliation was associated with a lower initial level of resilience. Significant lagged effects were also found; caregiver-child relationship quality and deviant peer affiliation at baseline were associated with resilience at 18 months after. The findings suggest that interventions that aim to promote positive caregiver-child relationships and prevent deviant peer relationships may help foster resilience among adolescents who have experienced child maltreatment.

Neighborhood Poverty, Family Economic Well-Being, and Child Maltreatment.

This study sought to understand the relationships between neighborhood poverty, family monetary well-being, and child maltreatment. The specific research questions were as follows: (1) Is neighborhood poverty at age 1 related to child physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect at age 5? (2) Are these relationships mediated by family monetary well-being? The study relied on data from three waves (child ages 1, 3, and 5) of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth-cohort study of 4,898 children from 20 large U.S. cities. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine mediational effects. The study found a lasting impact of neighborhood poverty on child neglect only, and this relationship was fully mediated by family monetary well-being. There was not a significant longitudinal relationship between neighborhood poverty and physical abuse or psychological abuse. Implications from the study suggest that neighborhood disadvantage impacts a families' economic well-being, and that individual-level economic supports may interrupt the pathway from neighborhood poverty to child neglect.

The Association of Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty With Child Maltreatment Reporting.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the role of race/ethnicity and poverty in the likelihood of children younger than age 3 years hospitalized because of child abuse and neglect-related injuries being reported to child protective services (CPS) and being assigned a specific maltreatment diagnostic code. METHODS: We used population-based linked administrative data comprising of birth, hospitalization, and CPS records. Children were identified for maltreatment-related hospitalizations using standardized diagnostic codes. Regression models were used to compute crude and adjusted race/ethnicity estimates regarding the likelihood of being reported to CPS and assigned a specific maltreatment diagnostic code during the maltreatment-related hospitalization. RESULTS: Of the 3907 children hospitalized because of child maltreatment, those with public health insurance were more likely than those with private insurance (relative risk [RR]: 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-1.42) and those with Asian/Pacific Islander mothers were less likely than those with White mothers to be reported to CPS (RR: 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65-0.93). No differences were found for children with Black, Hispanic, and Native American mothers compared with those with White mothers for CPS reporting. However, children with Native American mothers (RR: 1.45; 95% CI, 1.11-1.90) and public health insurance (RR: 2.00; 95% CI, 1.63-2.45) were more likely to have a specific maltreatment diagnostic code, the second strongest predictor of a CPS report. CONCLUSIONS: Race/ethnicity and poverty were factors for CPS reports during a child maltreatment-related hospitalization. It is necessary to implement programs and policies that mitigate implicit bias to prevent inequities in which children receive protective intervention.

Protective factors against child neglect among families in poverty.

BACKGROUND: Despite neglect being the most common form of maltreatment, it is still understudied relative to other maltreatment types. Further, there is limited evidence on mechanisms through which to prevent child neglect and on mechanisms that might buffer the risk of poverty. OBJECTIVE: The current study estimated how different protective factors decreased subtypes of neglect, both physical and supervisory, across early childhood and in relation to poverty. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The final sample included 2980 mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. METHODS: The current study used linear regressions in a structural equation modeling framework to estimate how protective factors at years 1 and 3 were related to neglectful parenting at years 3 and 5, as well as whether protective factors buffered the association between poverty and neglect. RESULTS: Mothers' perceived instrumental social support, part-time employment, and full-time employment were associated with less physical neglect at both time points (ß range from -0.15 to -0.05; all p < 0.05). Perceived instrumental social support was also related to less supervisory neglect at both times (ß = -0.05, p < 0.05 for both times). Perceived instrumental social support significantly moderated the association between poverty at year 1 and physical neglect at year 3 (ß = 0.06, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide important information to practitioners and policymakers on potential mechanisms to reduce neglect, as well as reducing neglect among economically disadvantaged families.

Predictors of Adoption and Guardianship Dissolution: The Role of Race, Age, and Gender Among Children in Foster Care.

Adoption and guardianship are meant to provide permanency to foster children when reunification is not a viable option. Unfortunately, sometimes adoption and guardianship placements dissolve resulting in children returning to care. Currently, there is limited research on the prevalence and predictors of adoption and guardianship dissolutions. This study investigated rates of guardianship and adoption dissolution using a complete entry cohort from a large state foster care system and the associations between child characteristics and risk factors with dissolution. Drawing on a complete entry cohort of foster children in Texas that exited to either adoption or guardianship placements, results demonstrated that over 2% of adoptive placements and 7% of guardianship placements were dissolved. Compared with White and Hispanic children, Black children had a higher risk of guardianship, but not adoption, dissolution. Older age was associated with a higher risk of adoption dissolution, and females had a higher risk of guardianship dissolution than males. Behavior problems, cognitive disability status, and mental health issues were all associated with a higher risk of dissolution. These findings have important implications for caseworkers and policymakers on permanency for children in adoptive or guardianship placements.

Thresholds of Resilience and Within- and Cross-Domain Academic Achievement among Children in Poverty.

Growing up in poverty increases the likelihood of maladaptive development. Yet, some children are able to overcome the adversity of poverty and demonstrate resilience. Currently, there is limited agreement among researchers about how to operationalize resilience, both in terms of who should be the comparison group against whom at-risk children are compared and in terms of what developmental domains of resilience are most predictive of later positive development. The present study investigated how different thresholds and domains of resilience at school entry were associated with within-domain and cross-domain academic achievement across elementary school. Using a nationally representative and longitudinal sample, the results demonstrated that children who reached a high threshold of resilience at entry to kindergarten had similar mathematics and literacy achievement throughout elementary school as academically competent children not in poverty. Additionally, cross-domain associations were found for both mathematics and literacy resilience predicting later achievement. These findings have important research and intervention implications for promoting positive academic development among children in poverty.

School Corporal Punishment and Its Associations with Achievement and Adjustment.

Corporal punishment in public schools is legal in nineteen states in the U.S. Over 100,000 students are disciplined with corporal punishment in public schools each year. Little is known about the forms school corporal punishment takes or about how school corporal punishment relates to students' outcomes. This study reports results from an anonymous online survey of emerging adults (ages 18 to 23) in the 19 states where school corporal punishment is legal. Of the more than 800 participants, 16% revealed that they experienced school corporal punishment. Propensity score matching was used to equate those who had experienced school corporal punishment and those who had not on a range of covariates. In regression models, having ever experienced school corporal punishment was linked with lower high school GPA, higher current depressive symptoms, and greater likelihood of spanking their own children in the future.

When Home is Still Unsafe: From Family Reunification to Foster Care Reentry.

Reuniting children with their families is the preferred outcome of foster care, yet many children reunited with their families reenter foster care. This study examined how parental substance abuse and mental health problems, and the time allotted for reunification, are associated with reentry risk. We used a complete cohort of children who entered the Texas foster care system in fiscal years 2008-2009 to identify the risk of foster care reentry within five years of reunification using selection-adjusted multi-level survival analysis. Approximately 16% of reunified children reentered care within 5 years. Substance abuse and mental health problems predicted higher rates of reentry. Reunification after 12 months was associated with increased reentry risk overall, but not among children commonly exempted from federal permanency timelines. Permanency guidelines that restrict the length of time to achieve reunification may have the unintended consequence of pushing reunification before maltreatment risks have been resolved.

Age-specific risk factors associated with placement instability among foster children.

Placement instability places foster children at an increased risk of negative developmental outcomes. Previous research has yielded inconsistent results on risk factors for placement instability. Therefore, we investigated two research questions: (1) Which child attributes and case histories are associated with placement disruptions (moves indicative of child, agency or caregiver dissatisfaction with the existing placement)?; and (2) How do associations of child attributes and case histories with placement disruptions vary by developmental stage --early childhood (0-5 years), middle childhood (6-12 years), and adolescence (13 years or older)? Using a complete entry cohort of 23,765 foster children in Texas, our results demonstrated that the effects of different risk factors varied by placement end reason and across developmental stages. Of note, kinship placement, compared to non-relative foster care, and placement with all siblings were each associated with an increased risk of substandard care disruptions. Placements with females or Hispanic children were at an increased risk of child-initiated disruption, whereas placements with Black children were more likely to end due to placement mismatch or substandard care reasons. Finally, the adolescence age group was always associated with the greatest increase in risk regardless of disruption reason. These findings provide researchers, caseworkers, and policymakers important information on the risk factors for placement instability among children in foster care.

Measurement and Correlates of Foster Care Placement Moves.

Placement stability is a major priority in the foster care system. However, the measurement of placement stability and the reasons children move are complex issues that warrant considerable attention. In this study, we used a two-year Texas foster care entry cohort to examine the extent to which children experience "progress moves", such as moving to a sibling placement or to live with a relative, versus non-progress moves, such as moving due to risk of abuse. Our sample consisted of 23,760 children and 66,585 placements statewide. Using two methods of classifying moves as either progress or non-progress, we found, of placements that ended with a move to a new placement, 29-43% ended with progress moves, and 57-71% ended with non-progress moves. Classification of move types was consistent across methods overall, but far less when the pre-move placement was in a shelter or restrictive setting. Additional analyses showed that the prevalence and risk factors for adverse moves varied across placement setting. Implications for the measurement and improvement of placement stability are discussed.

Strengthening Causal Estimates for Links Between Spanking and Children's Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Establishing causal links when experiments are not feasible is an important challenge for psychology researchers. The question of whether parents' spanking causes children's externalizing behavior problems poses such a challenge because randomized experiments of spanking are unethical, and correlational studies cannot rule out potential selection factors. This study used propensity score matching based on the lifetime prevalence and recent incidence of spanking in a large and nationally representative sample ( N = 12,112) as well as lagged dependent variables to get as close to causal estimates outside an experiment as possible. Whether children were spanked at the age of 5 years predicted increases in externalizing behavior problems by ages 6 and 8, even after the groups based on spanking prevalence or incidence were matched on a range of sociodemographic, family, and cultural characteristics and children's initial behavior problems. These statistically rigorous methods yield the conclusion that spanking predicts a deterioration of children's externalizing behavior over time.

Resilience in young children involved with child protective services.

Child maltreatment increases the risk of poor developmental outcomes. However, some children display resilience, meaning they are high-functioning despite their adverse experiences. To date, few research studies have examined protective factors among very young maltreated children. Yet, domains of resilience, and the protective factors that promote resilience among maltreated children, are likely to differ by developmental stage. Drawing on ecological systems theory and life course theory, we examined how protective factors at multiple ecological levels across early childhood were related to social and cognitive resilience among very young children involved with child protective services. The results demonstrated that the buffering effects of protective factors varied by social or cognitive resilience and the cumulative effects of protective factors were more consistently related to later resilience than protective factors at specific time points. In addition, the influence of specific protective factors on resilience slightly varied by initial in-home or out-of-home placement. These findings have important policy and research implications for promoting optimal development among children involved in child protective services.