Title
What About the Children? Co-Occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Parental Separation
Author
van Berkel, S.R.
Prevoo, M.J.L.
Linting, M.
Pannebakker, F.D.
Alink, L.R.A.
Publication year
2022
Abstract
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. © The Author(s) 2022.
Subject
Child maltreatment
High conflict divorce
Interparental violence
Parental separation
Parents
Seperation
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:019c6bd7-2dda-4195-8dbe-3e7e43e4583f
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595221130074
TNO identifier
977660
Source
Child Maltreatment, Epub 24 Sept
Document type
article