The Trajectory of Behavioral and Emotional Problems Among Children Experiencing Child Maltreatment: Early Childhood Experiences and Family Characteristics

Background/Purpose

Child maltreatment is key to the development of behavioral and emotional issues in children. The progression of these problems, especially from early childhood, remains understudied. Most existing studies either focus on older children or delinquent youth. This study takes a different approach, using child maltreatment reporting data to explore the subset of children ranging from infancy to pre-adolescence (age 0 to 11) who have been involved with Child Protective Services (CPS). It is important to bridge the gap in understanding how various types of maltreatment correlate with the onset of behavioral and emotional problems.

Methods

We used data from the Report and Placement Integrated Data System (RAPIDS), a programming suite which combines and restructures the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child Files and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Foster Care Files, supplemented with the Census Data. Two variables, CdBehav and CdEmotnl, denote child behavioral and emotional problems. We examined yearly data at the county level to determine which places and time periods contain plausible data on these problems. The final sample comprised approximately 450,000 children across 230 counties in 27 states. We established 2014 as the index year to analyze both prior and subsequent reporting information and the development of problematic behaviors over time.

Results

Children identified with either behavioral or emotional problems, regardless of their age, are more likely to show both prior and subsequent maltreatment reports compared to others in CPS. Not only do these children experience a higher number of reports, but they also have a greater likelihood of substantiation and are more prone to foster care involvement. Boys are more likely than girls to be identified with either type of problem across all age groups, except during infancy where we found no gender difference.

Children identified with behavioral problems during infancy are more likely to have experienced neglect and are typically from families in lower-income neighborhoods with higher poverty rate. For children aged three and above with behavioral problems, the likelihood of experiencing physical abuse is nearly double that of their counterparts. Similarly, children aged three and above with emotional problems are more likely to experience both physical and sexual abuse. While family size does not correlate with these problems, very high rates of co-occurrence of behavioral and emotional problems among siblings reported to CPS are present. Among the few children with available data on parental risk factors, we found an association between behavioral problems and parental substance abuse.

Conclusion & Implications

Children identified with behavioral or emotional problems tend to have longer and more serious CPS involvement. Preliminary analysis suggests they may also come from more troubled family environments. These children seem to represent a particularly high-risk subpopulation. Further research evaluating existing or new services tailored to this population is needed.