Abstract

Previous cross-sectional studies of economic influences on child maltreatment reveal that higher rates of child abuse are associated with undesirable economic conditions. The cross-sectional approach, however, is inherently unable to reveal causal direction and leaves open the possibility that the relationship between the economy and child maltreatment is due to some third variable. The present study employs an aggregate longitudinal approach to test the hypothesis that undesirable economic change leads to increased child maltreatment. Cross-correlational analyses of data over a 30-month period reveal that increases in child abuse are preceded by periods of high job loss. This finding is replicated in 2 distinct metropolitan communities under very conservative criteria which rule out most "third-variable" explanations. The loss of jobs in a community may endanger the well-being of children.

Keywords

NeglectPsychologyChild abuseDevelopmental psychologyPoison controlInjury preventionHuman factors and ergonomicsChild neglectSuicide preventionSocial psychologyPsychiatryMedical emergencyMedicine

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Publication Info

Year
1981
Type
article
Volume
52
Issue
3
Pages
975-985
Citations
196
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Laurence Steinberg, Ralph Catalano, David Dooley (1981). Economic Antecedents of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Development , 52 (3) , 975-985. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1981.tb03139.x

Identifiers

DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.1981.tb03139.x