The blind men and the elephant: Identification of a latent maltreatment construct for youth in foster care

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a major public health concern due to its impact on developmental trajectories and consequences across mental and physical health outcomes. Operationalization of child maltreatment has been complicated, as research has used simple dichotomous counts to identification of latent class profiles. This study examines a latent measurement model assessed within foster youth inclusive of indicators of maltreatment chronicity and severity across four maltreatment types: physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and neglect. Participants were 500 foster youth with a mean age of 12.99 years (SD = 2.95 years). Youth completed survey questions through a confidential audio computer-assisted self-interview program. A two-factor model with latent constructs of chronicity and severity of maltreatment revealed excellent fit across fit indices; however, the latent constructs were correlated .972. A one-factor model also demonstrated excellent model fit to the data (χ2 (16, n = 500) =28.087, p =.031, RMSEA (0.012 – 0.062) =.039, TLI =.990, CFI =.994, SRMR =.025) with a nonsignificant chi-square difference test comparing the one- and two-factor models. Invariance tests across age, gender, and placement type also were conducted with recommendations provided. Results suggest a single-factor latent model of maltreatment severity and chronicity can be attained. Thus, the maltreatment experiences reported by foster youth, though varied and complex, were captured in a model that may prove useful in later predictions of outcome behaviors. Appropriate identification of both the chronicity and severity of maltreatment inclusive of the range of maltreatment types remains a high priority for future research.

Child Maltreatment Severity Questionnaire (MSQ) for Professionals: Development, Validity, and Reliability Evidence

“…In the item "physical health monitoring," this pattern was found only for the descriptors with the minimum and moderate severity levels. Similar to other authors (e.g., Dubowitz et al, 2005;Gabrielli et al, 2017;Jackson et al, 2019;Korbin et al, 2000), this result showed that, in the community and CPS professionals' opinion, a consensual evaluation of severity in situations without signs of immediate, clear, and observable damages to the child-as is the case with the descriptors of "age inappropriate autonomy"-is more difficult. Furthermore, psychological abuse and neglect are less consensual areas, suggesting that they may be subject to less professionals' awareness (e.g., Korbin et al, 2000).…”

“…Research has shown that there is an inconsistency among different child welfare professionals (e.g., King & Scott, 2014), as well as among CPS professionals, regarding the evaluation of such cases (e.g., Arruabarrena & De Paúl, 2011, 2012Calheiros et al, 2016;Jackson et al, 2019). This inconsistency is higher when child maltreatment is difficult to observe and/or when there is a lack of immediate, clear, and observable damages to the child (e.g., Dubowitz et al, 2005;Gabrielli et al, 2017;Korbin, Coulton, Lindstrom-Ufuti, & Spilsbury, 2000), such as in emotional abuse (Jackson et al, 2019). That is why in many countries the protection practices have been criticized for their unsystematic assessment, leading to inconsistent service delivery and insufficient case planning and decision making (e.g., Benbenishty et al, 2015).…”

“…Even if the majority of child welfare reports are not substantiated (Kugler et al, 2019), these nonsubstantiated cases may show similar adversities that, although short of the substantiation criteria, put them at risk for further maltreatment and, thus, for problematic developmental outcomes (Hussey & Guo, 2005;Kohl, Jonson-Reid, & Drake, 2009;Kugler et al, 2019). However, there is emerging consensus that maltreatment is a complex construct requiring reliable and valid measurement tools, developed through advanced statistical techniques (Brumley, Brumley, & Jaffee, 2019;English, Bangdiwala, & Runyan, 2005;Gabrielli & Jackson, 2019;Gabrielli, Jackson, Tunno, & Hambrick, 2017;Jackson, Gabrielli, Fleming, Tunno, & Makanui, 2014). As such, we aim to describe the development of an instrument to assess child maltreatment, specifically designed to be used by professionals in CPS services.…”

Maltreatment, Coping, and Substance Use in Youth in Foster Care: Examination of Moderation Models

“…Full information on descriptives of this sample and further details on measurement models can be found in prior publications (Gabrielli, Jackson, & Brown, 2016; Gabrielli, Jackson, Tunno, & Hambrick, 2017). Across the four types of coping, youth with SU behavior only differed from youth with no SU behavior on direct action coping.…”

“…Residual variances were freed across each type of maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse chronicity with physical abuse severity) to account for the shared variance inherent within the two indicators identified by each maltreatment type. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the final one-factor maltreatment model in the full SPARK sample of 500 youth revealed excellent fit after changing the two-factor (severity and chronicity) model to one-factor model due to a correlation of .972 between constructs, χ 2 (16, n = 500) = 28.087, p = .031, RMSEA (0.012–0.062) = .039, TLI = .990, CFI = .994, SRMR = .025 (Gabrielli, Jackson, Tunno, & Hambrick, 2017). Examination of fit statistics for the CFA of the final latent model of maltreatment for the present sample revealed similar excellent fit, χ 2 (16, n = 210) = 23.244, p = .107, RMSEA (0.000–0.085) = .046, TLI = .986, CFI = .992, SRMR = .026, with all indicators demonstrating significant loadings.…”