Discriminant function (DF) analysis was used to distinguish 92 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse maltreating versus nonmaltreating families on indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) and parenting stress. Families included those with substantiated reports of child maltreatment (n = 23), plus Head Start families (n = 36), and child care families (n = 33) without reports of maltreatment. The significant SES distinguishers were poverty and parental education and employment. The significant parenting stress distinguishers were parental self-reports of a dysfunctional parent–child relationship and difficult child temperament. Maltreating and Head Start families were similar in terms of poverty, but only the maltreating families had clinical levels of parenting stress. Implications for family therapy and early childhood education interventions are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbidinR. R. (1992). The determinants of parenting behavior. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 407–412.
2.
AbidinR. R. (1995). Parenting stress index (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
3.
AllesandriS. M. (1992). Mother-child interactional correlates of maltreated and nonmaltreated children's play behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 257–270.
4.
AzarS. T., & WolfeD. A. (1998). Child abuse and neglect. In MashE. J. & BarkleyR. A. (Eds.), Treatment of childhood disorders (2nd ed., pp. 501–544). New York: Guilford Press.
5.
BagdasaryanS. (2004). Evaluating preservation services: Reframing the question of effectiveness. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 615–635.
6.
BaydarN., ReidM. J., & Webster-StrattonC. (2003). The role of mental health factors and program enhancement in the effectiveness of a preventive parenting program for Head Start mothers. Child Development, 74, 1433–1453.
7.
BlackD. A., HeymanR. E., & Smith SlepA. M. (2001). Risk factors for child physical abuse. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 6, 121–188.
8.
BradleyR. H., & Whiteside-MansellL. (1997). Children in poverty. In AmmermanR. T. & HersenM. (Eds.), Handbook of prevention and treatment with children and adolescents: Intervention in the real world context (pp. 13–58). New York: Wiley.
9.
Brooks-GunnJ., & MarkmanL. B. (2005). The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. The Future of Children, 15, 139–168.
10.
Brooks-GunnJ., DuncanG. J., & MaritatoN. (1997). Poor families, poor outcomes: The well-being of children and youth. In DuncanG. J. & Brooks-GunnJ. (Eds.), Consequences of growing up poor (pp. 1–17). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
11.
CainD. S., & Combs-OrmeT. (2005). Family structure effects on parenting stress and practices in the African American family. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 32, 19–40.
12.
ChangY., FineM. A., IspaJ., ThornburgK. R., SharpE., & WolfensteinM. (2004). Understanding parenting stress among young, low-income, African-American, first time mothers. Early Education & Development, 15, 266–282.
13.
CurentonS. M. (2005, June). Early childhood programs and literacy: A preliminary exploration of program type by children's ethnicity. Presented at the 10th Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
14.
CorcoranJ. (2000). Family interventions with child physical abuse and neglect: A critical review. Children and Youth Services Review, 22, 563–591.
15.
CoultonC. J., KorbinM. S., & ChowJ. (1995). Community level factors and child maltreatment rates. Child Development, 66, 1262–1276.
16.
CreasyG. L., & JarvisP. A. (1994). Relationships between parenting stress and developmental functioning among 2-year-olds. Infant Behavior and Development, 17, 423–429.
17.
CrnicK. A., & GreenbergM. T. (1990). Minor parenting stresses with young children. Child Development, 61, 1628–1637.
18.
CrnicK. A., & LowC. (2002). Everyday stress and parenting. In BornsteinM. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (pp. 243–367). Mahwah, NJ: Earlbaum.
19.
DiLauroM. D. (2004). Psychosocial factors associate with types of maltreatment. Child Welfare, 83, 69–99.
20.
DykP. (2004). Complexity of family life among the low-income and working poor: Introduction to the special issue. Family Relations, 53, 122–126.
21.
EthierL. S., CoutureG., & LachariteC. (2004). Risk factors associated with the chronicity of high potential for child abuse and neglect. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 13–24.
22.
FantuzzoJ., StevensonH., Abdul KabirS., & PerryM. A. (2007). An investigation of a community-based intervention for socially isolated parents with a history of child maltreatment. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 81–89.
23.
FantuzzoJ., WeissA. D., & CoolahanK. C. (1998). Community-based partnership-directed research: Actualizing community strengths to treat child victims of physical abuse and neglect. In LutzkerJ. R. (Ed.), Handbook of child abuse research and treatment: Issues in clinical child psychology (pp. 213–237). New York: Plenum.
24.
FrazerM. W., NelsonK. E., & RivardJ. C. (1997). Effectiveness of family preservation services. Social Work Research, 21, 138–153.
25.
GarbarinoJ., & KostelnyK (1992). Child maltreatment as a community problem. Child Abuse & Neglect, 16, 455–464.
GillhamB., TannerG., CheyneB., FreemanI., RooneyM., & LambieA. (1998). Unemployment rates, single parent density, and indices of child poverty: Their relationship to different categories of child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect, 22, 79–90.
28.
HadadianA., & MerblerJ (1996). Mother's stress: Implications for attachment relationships. Early Child Development and Care, 125, 59.
29.
HaskettM. E., AhernL. S., WardC. S., & AllaireJ. C. (2006). Factor structure and validity of the parenting stress index—Short form. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 302–312.
30.
HaskettM. E., Smith ScottS., GrantR., WardC., & RobinsonC. (2003). Child-related cognitions and affective functioning of physically abusive and middle class parents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 663–686.
31.
HawkinsW. E., & DuncanD. F. (1985). Perpetrator and family characteristics related to child abuse and neglect: Comparison of substantiated and unsubstantiated reports. Psychological Reports, 56, 407–410.
32.
HenggelerS. W., MeltonG. B., & SmithL. A. (1992). Family preservation using multisystemic therapy: An effective alternative to incarcerating serious juvenile offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 953–961.
33.
HofferthS. L. (1994). Who enrolls in Head Start? A demographic analysis of Head Start eligible children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 243–268.
34.
HortonC. (2003). Protective Factors literature review: Early care and education programs and the prevention of child abuse and neglect.Washington, DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy.
35.
HuebnerC. E. (2002). Evaluation of a clinic-based parent education program to reduce the risk of infant and toddler maltreatment. Public Health Nursing, 19, 377–389.
36.
HutchesonJ. J., & BlackM. M. (1996). Psychometric properties of the Parenting Stress Index in a sample of low-income African-American mothers of infants and toddlers. Early Education and Development, 7, 381–400.
37.
JacksonA. P. (2000). Maternal self-efficacy and children's influence on stress and parenting among single Black mothers in poverty. Journal of Family Issues, 21, 3–16.
38.
LeeB. J., & GeorgeR. M. (1999). Poverty, early childbearing, and child maltreatment: A multinomial analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 21, 755–780.
39.
MartinL. M., PetersonC. L., & GlissonC. (1998). Factors affecting case management recommendations for children entering state custody. Social Service Review, 72, 521–544.
40.
MashE. J., & JohnstonC. (1990). Determinants of parenting stress: Illustrations from families of hyperactive children and families of physically abused children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19, 313–328.
41.
McDowellA. D., SaylorC. F., & TaylorM. J. (1995). Ethnicity and parenting stress change during early intervention. Early Child Development and Care, 111, 131–140.
42.
McLoydV. C. (1990). The impact of economic hardship on Black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. Child Development, 61, 311–346.
43.
McLoydV. C. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 53, 185–204.
44.
MilnerJ. S., & DopkeC. (1997). Child physical abuse. Review of offender characteristics. In WolfeD. A., McMahonR. J., & PetersR. D. (Eds.), Child abuse: New directions in prevention and treatment across the lifespan (pp. 27–53). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
National Institute for Early Education Research. (2005). The state of preschool: The 2005 state preschool yearbook.New Brunswick, NJ: Author.
46.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2001). Before Head Start: Income and ethnicity, family characteristics, child care experiences, and child development. Early Education and Development, 12, 546–576.
47.
PearsK. C., & CapaldiD. M. (2001). Intergenerational transmission of abuse: A two generational prospective study of an at risk sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25, 1439–1461.
48.
PeltonL. (1978). Child abuse and neglect: The myth of classlessness. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 608–617.
49.
PrinceD. L., & HowardE. M. (2002). Children and their basic needs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 30, 27–31.
50.
RaikesH. A., & ThompsonR. A. (2005). Efficacy of social support as predictors of parenting stress among families in poverty. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 177–190.
51.
ReitmanD., CurrierR. O., & StickleT. R. (2002). A critical evaluation of the parenting stress index—Short form (PSI-SF) in a Head Start population. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 384–392.
52.
ReynoldsA. J., & OuS. (2004). Alterable predictors of child well-being in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Child and Youth Services Review, 26, 1–14.
53.
ReynoldsA. J., & RobertsonD. L. (2003). School-based early intervention and later child maltreatment in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Child Development, 74, 3–36.
54.
RodriguezC. M., & GreenA. J. (1997). Parenting stress and anger expression as predictors of child abuse potential. Child Abuse & Neglect, 21, 367–377.
55.
RoggmanL. A., MoeS. T., HartA. D., & ForthunL. F. (1994). Family leisure and social support: Relations with parenting stress and psychological well-being in Head Start parents. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 463–480.
56.
SidebothamP., HeronJ., GoldingJ., & the ALSPAC Study Team. (2002). Child maltreatment in the ‘children of the nineties:’ Deprivation, class, and social networks in a UK sample.Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 1243–1259.
57.
SprangG., ClarkJ. J., & BassS. (2005). Factors that contribute to child maltreatment severity: A multi-method and multidimensional investigation.Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 335–350.
58.
TabachnickB. G., & FidellL. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
59.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families. (2005). Child maltreatment 2003.Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
WaldfogelJ. (2000, September). What we know and don't know about the state of child protective service system and the links between poverty and child maltreatment.Remarks for Joint Center for Poverty Research congressional briefing on child welfare and child protection: Current research and policy implications. Washington, DC: Author.
62.
WaltonE., FraserM. W., LewisR. E., PecoraP. J., & WaltonW. K. (1993). In-home family-focused reunification: An experimental study. Child Welfare, 2, 473–487.
63.
Webster-StrattonC. (1990). Stress: A potential disruptor of parent perceptions and family interactions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19, 302–312.
64.
ZuravinS. J., & DiBlasioF. A. (1992). Child-neglecting adolescent mothers: How do they differ from their nonmaltreating counterparts?Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 471–489.
