Child Maltreatment and Substance Abuse Among U.S. Army Soldiers

Abstract

Although substance abuse has consistently been linked to child maltreatment, no study to date has described the extent of substance abuse among child maltreatment offenders within the military. Analysis of U.S. Army data on all substantiated incidents of parental child maltreatment committed between 2000 and 2004 by active duty soldiers found that 13% of offenders were noted to have been abusing alcohol or illicit drugs at the time of their child maltreatment incident. The odds of substance abuse were increased for offenders who committed child neglect or emotional abuse, but were reduced for child physical abuse. The odds of offender substance abuse nearly tripled in child maltreatment incidents that also involved co-occurring spouse abuse. Findings include a lack of association between offender substance abuse and child maltreatment recurrence, possibly because of the increased likelihood of removal of offenders from the home when either substance abuse or spouse abuse were documented.

Caregiver Substance Use and Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…One exception is Wolock, Sherman, Feldman, and Metzger (2001), who found that substance use remains a significant and unique contributor to variance in substantiation risk even when other family risk variables are controlled. In addition, other studies have found that not only is the presence of alcohol or drug use in the home a major risk factor, but intensity and frequency of use can be associated with severity of maltreatment (Gibbs et al, 2008). However, given the wealth of other research findings about co-occurring risk factors in homes where caregivers are active substance misusers, the number of studies examining specific substance misuse effects was astonishingly low.…”

“…Not surprising with the number of articles that focused on child maltreatment outcomes, a large number of articles also focused on implications for child welfare professionals. These findings highlight the need to increase access to evidence-based interventions (Berger, 2005), increase collaboration with other systems such as the military, which has had extensive experience with substance-using caregivers who have been child maltreatment perpetrators (Gibbs et al, 2008), and gain a better understanding of substance use within the context of the other risk factors of the home environment (Scannapieco & Connell-Carrick, 2007).…”

“…Not discussed Gibbs et al (2008) 13% of child maltreatment offenders Offenders whose first child maltreatment experience involved substance use were more likely to have previously received a referral to substance abuse services. Levels of violence also varied, with those who committed both child and spouse abuse on the same day being more likely to have abused alcohol or drugs than those who only committed child maltreatment.…”

“…Some of these violent acts were associated with increased activities around the drug-using lifestyle as noted by Connors-Burrow et al (2009), who used the Things I Have Seen and Heard Scale with robust predictors being events like witnessing types of drug deals go down in the home and seeing drugs in the home. Other violent acts were noted as domestic violence (Sprang et al, 2008), marital conflict or spouse abuse (Gibbs et al, 2008), and these events suggest a very different at-risk situation for children.…”

The Impact of Work-Related Factors on Soldiers' Treatment: Providers' Perspectives

“…Alcohol abuse was found to be a factor in 25% of incidents of intimate partner violence committed by married active duty Army soldiers (Martin et al, 2010). Substance abuse was less frequently associated with child maltreatment (Gibbs et al, 2008).…”