Harris, Lottie G., Higgins, Daryl J., Willis, Megan L., Lawrence, David, Meinck, Franziska, Thomas, Hannah J., Malacova, Eva, Scott, James G., Pacella, Rosana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9742-1957 and Haslam, Divna M. (2024) Dimensions of child maltreatment in Australians with a history of out-of-home care. Child Maltreatment. ISSN 1077-5595 (Print), 1552-6119 (Online) (doi:10.1177/10775595241297944)

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Abstract

Research suggests that the dimensions of childhood maltreatment (type, age of onset, duration, frequency and perpetrator) play an important role in determining health and wellbeing outcomes, though little information is available on these dimensions for any care experienced cohorts. This study aimed to determine if any variation in maltreatment dimensions were experienced between two subsets of the nationally representative Australian Child Maltreatment Study, both of which reported childhood maltreatment histories: care-experienced (n = 358) and non-care-experienced (n = 4922). Using a series of independent t-tests and chi-square tests, we compared the two groups on seven dimensions (number of maltreatment types, range of maltreatment items, age of onset, duration, frequency, perpetrator number, and perpetrator type) for the five child maltreatment types (physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence). Results showed that the care-experienced group reported a higher intensity of maltreatment, being younger when maltreatment first started, experiencing greater variety of maltreatment types, for longer periods, more times and by more perpetrators than maltreated people with no care experience. We conclude that children and young people in out-of-home care experience maltreatment at a higher intensity than the rest of the population, which has implications for effective treatment.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	child maltreatment, Australia
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Vulnerable Children and Families
Last Modified:	21 Feb 2025 15:06
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/49809

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