Measuring Public Support to Invest in Programs for Adult Survivors of Child Abuse: Results from a Randomized Factorial Vignette

Background and Purpose: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) significantly harm long-term mental and physical health, with estimated costs reaching hundreds of billions of dollars. Public support of child abuse prevention efforts and willingness to fund services for adult survivors can inform social workers and other helping professionals who are working in these areas. Using a nationwide survey, we aimed to determine the public’s support of and willingness-to-pay for child abuse and neglect preventative initiatives and programs to support adult survivors of child abuse and neglect.

Methods: Data were collected as part of a larger survey assessing the public’s willingness-to-pay for in-prison programming and reentry services for justice-involved individuals. Eligibility criteria were: internet access via smartphone or computer, a U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older, and able to read English. Participants were recruited via Qualtrics platform and were compensated $15. Each participant was randomly assigned a vignette within the survey featuring agender-neutral character (Taylor) with two randomized factors: age (27 or 67) and type of ACE (emotional neglect, physical abuse, or parent’s severe mental illness). After reading the vignette, participants answered questions about their support for prevention policies and willingness to pay for services for adult survivors. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using SPSS.

Results: The non-random national sample included 370 participants who ranged in age from 20-97 (M= 63.89, SD= 13.96); most of our sample identified as White (85.8%, persons of color = 14.2%) and female (65.9%, male = 33.5%, transgender, 0.6%). Most (80.2%, n=297) supported government policy implementation to prevent the child abuse Taylor experienced. When controlling for participant sex, age, income, race, and the type of Taylor vignette assigned, binary logistic regressions demonstrated that higher uncaring attitudes were associated with lower odds of supporting government policy implementation (B=-.641, p<.001) and the willingness to pay more in federal income tax for services to treat and support individuals who share Taylor’s ACE (B=-.784, p<.001). Situational attribution (B=.399, p<.001), level of uncaring (B=-.771, p<.001), and social dominance orientation (-.188, p=.032) statistically significantly affected the odds of believing that people who earn more than $400,000 a year should pay more in taxes to support treatment programs for adults like Taylor. Over 30% of participants (n=117) would donate $50+ annually to an organization that provides treatment to individuals like Taylor.

Conclusions and Implications: Overall, there is strong support for government policies to prevent child abuse. One’s willingness to support prevention and treatment efforts varies based on personal traits, such as levels of uncaring attitudes. These findings will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of public attitudes and inform policymakers and advocates in how to design initiatives that prevent and respond to child abuse and neglect that align with the publics’ priorities. Future research should consider actual versus theoretical support and willingness-to-pay, as well as ways to address amenable individual attributes that could promote support for prevention efforts and services for adult survivors.