Associations between Parental Mental Health and Child Maltreatment: The Importance of Family Characteristics

Abstract

The study expands the literature on parents’ mental health and risk of poor parenting by exploring the association between parental mental health diagnoses and types of child maltreatment among 522 parents who were adjudicated for child maltreatment by Israeli courts. The study was cross-sectional and used a manual for the content analysis of court cases. The results showed that 62% of the parents suffered from mental health problems, including emotional problems, personality disorders, mental illness or intellectual disability. Child neglect was associated with all types of mental health diagnoses for both the mothers and fathers. However, child abuse and specifically physical abuse were associated only with the mother’s mental health diagnoses. The mother’s mental illness and personality disorder predicted child neglect and the mother’s personality disorder predicted child abuse, after controlling for poverty, child’s intellectual disability and age. No mental health diagnosis of the father predicted child maltreatment. The study concluded that the effect of mental health condition is greater for mothers. A mother’s personality disorder and mental illness should raise a special concern. Screening for maternal mental health in every case involved in the child welfare system and implications of the findings for prevention of child maltreatment are discussed.

The relationship between parental depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems: The roles of parenting stress and child maltreatment

“…Child maltreatment, including negative parenting behaviors, has been explored in extensive studies, and parental depression may be a risk factor for child maltreatment ( 32 ). David ( 33 ) found that 62% of parents who have maltreated their children had mental health problems (e.g., depression). Based on a longitudinal study with 1,813 families, Mustillo et al ( 34 ) reported that parental depression positively predicted child maltreatment in children aged 0 to 14.…”

Family Education and Support Programme: Implementation and Cultural Adaptation in Cape Verde

“…It is in this context that it is important to develop family intervention programs in circumstances where they have not yet been developed and where they are most needed. This is particularly applicable to the difficult living conditions of families in developing countries, where poverty and violence are present in parenting, increasing the risk of child maltreatment (Beasley et al 2022;Ben David 2021;Etieyibo et al 2020;Gonzales 2017;Jiménez and Hidalgo 2016;Kotchick and Forehand 2002;Krug et al 2002;Long 2016;Maya and Hidalgo 2016;de Ossorno García et al 2017;Frías-Armenta et al 2017).…”