Housing Insecurity, Maternal Stress, and Child Maltreatment: An Application of the Family Stress Model

Warren, Emily; Font, Sarah A.

doi:10.1086/680043

Cited by 144 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Tests of this model have confirmed that factors such as parental stress and conflict, deteriorating parental physical and emotional well-being, and reductions in nurturing and engaged parenting practices mediate the relationship between hardship and child adjustment (Conger et al 1992; Mistry et al 2008; Warren and Font 2015). According to this model, the pressures exerted on impoverished caregivers impact their abilities to provide stable, engaged parenting, with negative psychosocial implications for their children.…”

Section: Existing Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 90%

A Theory of Mental Health and Optimal Service Delivery for Homeless Children

Marçal

2016

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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Homeless children are a vulnerable group with high risk for developing mental health disorders. The pathways to disorders among homeless children have not been fully elucidated, with significant logistical and measurement issues challenging accurate and thorough assessment of need. The environments of homeless children are uniquely chaotic, marked by frequent moves, family structure changes, household and neighborhood disorder, parenting distress, and lack of continuous services. Despite high rates of service use, mental health outcomes remain poor. This paper reviews the literature on homeless children’s mental health, as well as prior theoretical explorations. Finally, the paper proposes a theoretical model that explains elevated rates of mental health problems among homeless children as consequences of harmful stress reactions triggered by chronic household instability along with repeated service disruptions. This model draws upon existing conceptual frameworks of child development, family poverty, health services utilization, and the biology of stress to clarify the role of environmental chaos in the development of child emotional and behavioral problems. Potential strategies to mitigate the risk for mental health disorders among homeless children and future research directions are discussed.

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Section: Existing Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 90%

A Theory of Mental Health and Optimal Service Delivery for Homeless Children

Marçal

2016

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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“…Studies of child maltreatment have consistently found that neighborhood structural factors, such as poverty (Coulton et al, 2007; Coulton et al, 1999; Freisthler, Merritt, & LaScala, 2006; Zuravin & Taylor, 1987), housing stress and instability (Ernst, 2000; Fromm, 2004; Manabe, 2004; Warren & Font, 2015; Zuravin, 1989), childcare burden (Coulton et al, 1999), substance availability (Freisthler, Gruenewald, Remer, Lery, & Needell, 2007; Freisthler, Needell, & Gruenewald, 2005), residential density (Zuravin, 1986) and immigrant concentration (Molnar et al, 2003), have an effect on maltreatment.…”

Section: Understanding Child Maltreatment: Ecological Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood-level social processes and substantiated cases of child maltreatment

Molnar

Goerge

Gilsanz

et al. 2016

Child Abuse & Neglect

143

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Child maltreatment is a preventable public health problem. Research has demonstrated that neighborhood structural factors (e.g. poverty, crime) can influence the proportion of a neighborhood’s children who are victims of maltreatment. A newer strategy is the identification of potentially modifiable social processes at the neighborhood level that can also influence maltreatment. Toward this end, this study examines neighborhood-level data (maltreatment cases substantiated by Illinois’ child protection agency, 1995–2005, social processes measured by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, U.S. Census data, proportions of neighborhoods on public assistance, and crime data) that were linked across clusters of contiguous, relatively homogenous Chicago, IL census tracts with respect to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition. Our analysis—an ecological-level, repeated cross-sectional design utilizing random-intercept logit models— with a sensitivity analysis using spatial models to control for spatial autocorrelation – revealed consistent associations between neighborhood social processes and maltreatment. Neighborhoods higher in collective efficacy, intergenerational closure, and social networks, and lower in disorder had lower proportions of neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse substantiated cases, controlling for differences in structural factors. Higher collective efficacy and social network size also predicted a lower proportion of substance-exposed infants. This research indicates that strategies to mobilize neighborhood-level protective factors may decrease child maltreatment more effectively than individual and family-focused efforts alone.

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“…Perhaps, learning how to obtain more stable income can provide a sense of Safety/Security in that survivors can sufficiently nourish themselves without worry. Child abuse survivors are likely to experience higher rates of unemployment and homelessness (Jackson & Martin, 1998;Thornberry et al, 2001), and housing insecurity associated with maternal stress is directly related to abuse and neglect risk (Warren & Font, 2015). Food scarcity and housing insecurity may be related to lack of income, so acquiring job related skills that increase work stability and income can potentially help child abuse survivors eliminate food scarcity and housing insecurity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These links may have the potential to interfere with child abuse survivors' progress in achieving success in adult life, as it may be difficult for survivors to focus on striving to achieve goals at the same time that they are battling stress and its negative effects. For example, housing insecurity associated with maternal stress is directly related to abuse and neglect risk (Warren & Font, 2015). These negative results, however, can be reduced via interventions.…”

Section: Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%