Determining Risk for Child Physical Abuse through the Classification of Economic Security (WITHDRAWN)

Background and Purpose. Child abuse or neglect is 22 times more likely among families earning up to $15,000 annually as compared to families earning $30,000 or more. Children who experience economic insecurity and physical abuse incur greater psychological and social problems, including poor health, risky behaviors, depression and academic failure. Although there is an established connection between low economic security and child physical abuse, both economic security and child physical abuse remain persistent concerns for our society.

Although researchers have found a relationship between economic security and child physical abuse, previous studies have not explored the impact of varying combinations of economic security on child physical abuse behaviors. In the current study, we examine how combinations of economic hardship (income transfers and housing, food and bill-paying hardship) are associated with child physical abuse behaviors (hitting, slapping, spanking). We hypothesize that 1) indicators of economic security can be classified by shared characteristics with classes ranging from low economic security to high economic security, and 2) these classes differentially predict child physical abuse behaviors.

Method.

Data. The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (FFCWS), a national, longitudinal study, was used to test the hypotheses. The FFCWS study used stratified random sampling to gather data from a 1998-2000 birth cohort of unwed and married parents (N = 4,897) about their life circumstances and their children’s wellbeing at birth (baseline) and at age 1, 3, 5, and 9. For this analysis, we included only data from biological mothers about their child’s wellbeing at age 5 (N= 4,055).

Measures. Mother-reported economic security includes the income-to-poverty ratio, income transfers (cash assistance, food stamps), and food, health, bill-paying and housing hardships. Using the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale, child physical abuse is measured by the presence and frequency of spanking, hitting with a hard object, and slapping as reported by mothers in the last year.

Statistical Approach. We conducted latent class analysis (LCA) with MPlus 7.2. Missing data were handled through the estimation of 20 multiple imputed datasets in the R package Amelia 1.7.3.

Results. The fit indices indicated a parsimonious and well-fitting 5-class solution, with classes ranging from low to high economic security. In general, mothers with lower economic security hit, slapped and spanked more than mothers with greater economic security, although a few exceptions were noted. 

Conclusions and Implications. To date, no studies have used LCA to characterize typologies of economic security. The present study contributes to the story about economic security and child physical abuse that we haven’t been telling: subgroups of mothers who experience varying economic security are more likely to use different type of hitting. Understanding this relationship 1) emphasizes the importance of material supports for families engaging in potentially injurious parenting behaviors, 2) allows practitioners to modify parenting interventions for families based on the type of material hardship that a family experiences, and 3) provides a rationale for policymakers to include material supports in policies that aim to reduce and prevent child physical abuse.