Assessment of Physical Child Abuse Risk in Parents with Children Referred to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Abstract

Given the vulnerability of the child psychiatric population, this study examined whether parenting a child referred to a child and adolescent psychiatry department leads to a higher risk of physical child abuse and if that risk is associated with a specific child psychopathology. The clinical sample consisted of caregivers with a six‐to‐11‐year‐old child who consulted child and adolescent psychiatry for a psychiatric assessment. The Dutch Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI), socio‐demographic data and child psychiatric diagnosis were collected from 59 caregivers of 59 children. Ten per cent of the sample obtained an Abuse scale score indicative of a potential risk for physically maltreating their child. Compared to a non‐clinical sample, this study showed a two and a half times higher risk potential for physical child abuse in caregivers with children referred to child and adolescent psychiatry. The elevated risk was not associated with a specific child psychiatric diagnosis. The caregivers at risk were more unhappy and experienced more problems with their child, their family and with others. Results support the need for implementing a standard risk assessment for physical child abuse in a child psychiatric setting. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Compared to a non‐clinical sample, there is a two and a half times higher risk potential for physical child abuse in caregivers with children with mental health problems examined with the self‐report screening questionnaire CAPI. Child psychopathology in general is associated with an elevated potential for physical child abuse; there is no correlation with a specific child psychiatric disorder. There is a need for implementing a standard risk assessment for child abuse in a clinical child psychiatric setting.

What are the Optimal Combinations of Parenting Intervention Components to Reduce Physical Child Abuse Recurrence? Reanalysis of a Systematic Review using Qualitative Comparative Analysis

“…Previous descriptions of how empirically supported parenting interventions for child conduct disorders have been adapted for child welfare populations have emphasised the need to incorporate parental self‐management alongside parenting strategies (Webster‐Stratton and Reid, ). Given the repeated evidence that parental stress is a predictor of child maltreatment generally and physical child abuse specifically (Maguire‐Jack and Font, ; Van Looveren et al, ), this finding suggests an important role in supporting parents to manage their feelings, expectations and behaviours alongside developing better parenting skills.…”

Physical Abuse of Children

“…The Dutch Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI) was used to assess physical abuse risk (Milner, , ), socio‐demographic data were collected and at the end of screening a child psychiatric diagnosis was made using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐IVTR). Findings showed that:

‘Using the most stringent cut‐off point of 215 on the Abuse scale of the CAPI… ten per cent of caregivers with a child with a psychiatric problem obtained an Abuse scale score indicative of a potential risk for physically maltreating their child.’ (Van Looveren et al, , p. 420)

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“…‘Using the most stringent cut‐off point of 215 on the Abuse scale of the CAPI… ten per cent of caregivers with a child with a psychiatric problem obtained an Abuse scale score indicative of a potential risk for physically maltreating their child.’ (Van Looveren et al, , p. 420)…”

“…The first paper in this issue by Natalie Van Looveren and colleagues () from Belgium sought to investigate whether parenting a child referred to a child and adolescent psychiatry department leads to a greater risk of physical abuse and if that is associated with a specific child psychopathology. In this study, all 156 primary caregivers of children aged six to 11 years old referred for a child psychiatric assessment were approached to participate.…”

“…Van Looveren et al () note that if a lower cut‐off score of 166 is used instead, then 25 per cent of families would be regarded as having a risk for physical child abuse amongst this population. However, it is interesting to note that the researchers found no correlation between an elevated risk for physical abuse and any particular child psychiatric diagnosis.…”