Purpose This study examines the relationship between mental illness diagnoses and four intergenerational patterns of child protection services involvement: cycle breakers, cycle maintainers, cycle initiators, and a comparison group (no maltreatment). Existing research is limited and inconsistent, and rarely incorporates multiple categories of mental illness or considers variation between mental illnesses. Methods Data were drawn from an administrative population-based data repository in Queensland, Australia and includes 32,494 individuals identified as biological parents. Child protection data were obtained from the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs and mental illness diagnoses were obtained from Queensland Health hospital admissions. Any mental illness diagnosis, age at onset (adolescence or adulthood), and diagnosis types (common, severe, personality disorders, childhood-onset, adolescent- and adult-onset, and substance use) were examined. Multinomial and logistic regressions were conducted to investigate whether the mental illness diagnosis variables distinguished the four intergenerational patterns of child protection service involvement. Results Overall, 10.4% of individuals had at least one hospital admission involving a mental illness diagnosis. The prevalence of mental illness diagnoses significantly differed across the intergenerational patterns. Cycle maintainers and cycle initiators received the highest rates of diagnoses (50% and 38.8%, respectively), compared to cycle breakers (21.1%) and the comparison group (7.7%). Conclusions Our findings underline the need for early access to mental health supports for families involved with the child protection system, which could help prevent the cycle of maltreatment.
While there is much research on the topic of child maltreatment more broadly in Australia, a nuanced understanding of intergenerational child maltreatment is needed to improve our responses. Little work has considered all four intergenerational patterns of child maltreatment: cycle maintainers (maltreated parents with maltreated children), cycle breakers (maltreated parents with non‐maltreated children), cycle initiators (non‐maltreated parents with maltreated children) and a comparison group (non‐maltreated parents with non‐maltreated children). We use this terminology to maintain consistency with international literature, but acknowledge that these terms minimise the complexity inherent in contact with child protection systems. Research has mainly focused on maintainers, which hinders our ability to appropriately support all families and limits our understanding of individuals breaking the cycle. This paper outlines key knowledge gaps and identifies strategic areas of focus for researchers and policymakers. There is an urgent need for more emphasis on building resilience and strengths, the provision of more integrated and holistic support for families, and consideration of sex differences. We highlight the need for more research on this topic, particularly led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and hope that the recommendations in this paper can be revisited and updated as this important research base grows.
This longitudinal population-based study examines the association between maltreatment victimization experiences and the likelihood of intergenerational (dis)continuity of maltreatment. Our data include all individuals born in 1983/1984 in Queensland (QLD), Australia who are registered as parents via birth records and who experienced system contacts for maltreatment victimization in childhood ( n = 2906). Child safety data on system contacts as a child victim and person responsible for harm to a child were obtained from the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs. Out-of-home care experiences and maltreatment frequency, timing, and type were examined. Results indicated that childhood maltreatment experiences significantly differed between parents who were not subsequently responsible for harm to a child (cycle breakers) and parents who were subsequently responsible for harm to a child (cycle maintainers). Different patterns of association were observed across sex. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of victim maltreatment experiences and associated risk of maltreatment for their children, and can inform effective and targeted interventions by tailoring these by sex and developmental period.
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