Exploring Trends in Material Hardship and Child Maltreatment Risk Factors: A Longitudinal Analysis

Background

Material hardship (MH) and child maltreatment (CM) are major concerns in the US. One third of children in the US are reported to be living in families experiencing at least one form of material hardship, including financial strain, inadequate housing, food insecurity, medical, and utility hardship. Several studies have established that material hardship disproportionately affects single parent mothers, and minority households. Twelve and a half percent of children are confirmed victims of maltreatment by age 18.

Lack of economic and concrete resources creates risk factors for CM, and often involvement of Child Protection Services (CPS). This presentation offers findings involving a longitudinal correlation between MH and risk factors for CM; describing the socio-economic status of mothers experiencing MH for over fifteen years. The hypothesis states - there is significant association between material hardship and CM risk factors after controlling for household poverty threshold.

Methods

A longitudinal research design was used to investigate the association between material hardship, poverty threshold and CM risk factors (psychological aggression, physical assault, neglectful behavior). The research leverages cohort data from the Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) involving over 4000 mothers from 20 major US cities. The analysis to be presented at SSWR was based on 3,326 mothers who participated in wave 3 (2001-2003) with a child aged 3 through wave 6 (2014-2017) with a child aged 15. Relevant variables related to material hardship and CM risk behaviors were selected and recoded to align with the study’s research questions. Separate linear regression models were fitted for waves 3 and 6, with material hardship and poverty threshold as predictor variables, and CM risk behaviors as outcome variables. Analysis was conducted using R.

Results

After 15-years, 46.87% and 30.42% of mothers continued to experience material hardship and live below the national poverty line out of 60.07% and 39.69% respectively, recorded in wave3. The mean value for MH at both waves 3&6 was 0.12 and 0.18 (scale = 0 to 1) which suggests a moderate MH experience. Children at age 3 and 15 faced significantly different levels of psychological aggression, physical assault, and neglectful behavior, indicating a potentially increasing level of adversity as children grow older. There was significant positive relationship between child maltreatment risk factors (psychological aggression, physical assault, child neglect) and material hardship at p<0.05. This positive association indicates that MH may significantly be associated with increased levels of child maltreatment risk factors over a period of time, even after considering mothers’ household poverty levels.

Conclusions and Implications

The study concludes that material hardship may contribute to an increased likelihood of experiencing child maltreatment, emphasizing the importance of concrete resources and economic support. Moreover, research and social work interventions need to address more on income support to safeguard children and family well-being. Understanding such dynamics is crucial for developing targeted policy initiatives aimed at preventing child maltreatment and promoting more demographically tailored, and comprehensive family and child welfare.