NCJ Number
215997
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 63-75
Date Published
February 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Two parenting assessment mechanisms--the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC) and mother-child observation--were tested for their ability to identify mothers with a history of physically abusing or neglecting their children.
Abstract
High scores on the CTSPC were indicative of abusive and/or neglectful parenting. Mothers who had acknowledged maltreating their children to Child Protective Services had higher scores than controls on the Neglect, Nonviolent Discipline, and Psychological Aggression subscales of the CTSPC, but not on the Physical Assault subscale. The CTSPC was unlikely to misclassify mothers who did not have a history of maltreating their children. Some mothers with a substantiated history of maltreating their children, however, had low scores on the CTSPC, which either meant they were attempting to conceal their maltreatment or had significantly changed their parenting behavior and attitudes. The observations of mother-child interaction during semistructured teaching tasks were not able to distinguish abusive and/or neglectful mothers from those without such histories. Combining CTSPC scores and observation data in regressions correctly identified approximately 40 percent of the mothers who acknowledged that they had maltreated their children, compared to less than 10 percent of the mothers with a history of maltreatment known to child Protective Services but who did not acknowledge it to researchers. These findings indicate the need to develop improved assessments that can identify parents who are concealing their maltreating parenting behaviors. Study participants were mothers of 139 children (76 boys and 63 girls ages 3 to 6 years) who contacted researchers in response to flyers posted in publicly funded preschool or therapeutic programs known to include children referred by Child Protective Services. A record review showed that the mothers of 58 children (42 percent) had a history of 1 or more substantiated incidents of child maltreatment. 4 tables and 65 references