Risk Factors - Page 2

1. Parental Predispositions.
Several characteristics of parents, both mothers and fathers, were found to be linked to child maltreatment.

• Psychological disturbance and psychopathology among parents. While the parent's psychopathology was evidence across all the various stages of family life cycle, it was most pronounced in the postpartum, infancy and early adolescence periods. · Parents developmental history. There is no doubt today about the association between experiences of mistreatment in one's own childhood and the potentiality for mistreatment of one's children. I emphasize the potentiality element, for we do not know the rate of those who were maltreated as children and became later on adequate parents.
• Mother's early age. Research suggests that parenting during adolescence may be a risk factor for child maltreatment. Teenage mothers were found to express undesirable child-rearing attitudes, to have unrealistic expectations for their child's development, and tend to be unresponsive to their young infants. However, we should not treat age of the mother as a categorical risk factor when it is part of the social and cultural milieu in a given society.
• Lack of education. Parental low education level and particularly lack of general knowledge regarding child development account for parental unrealistic expectations with regards to child's changing behavior, and constitute a potential risk for child maltreatment.

2. Sources of Stress Associated with Child Maltreatment
The accumulated work in the field of child abuse and neglect highlights several sources of stress which are likely to undermine parental functioning and lead to child maltreatment.

• Relationship between the parents. The relationship between the parents, either married or not, is a strong indication of the quality of parenting. Conflicts and tensions between them were found to be negatively correlated with the quality of parenting by both mothers and fathers.
• Social network. Social isolation was mentioned in the literature as a risk factor. The lack of support – emotionally as well as in concrete goods – from friends, neighbors and relatives has a heavy weight as a risk factor, especially when relationship between the parents are difficult, violent or non-existent.
• Unemployment. The linkage between total unemployment or underemployment and child maltreatment was established long ago. Decline in paternal authority, increase of arbitrary and punitive behavior toward children without the balance of supportiveness, were found to be common.
• Immigration. There isn't enough empirical evidence about child maltreatment among immigrant families, and it is difficult to sift out acceptable child-rearing practices among immigrant groups from child maltreatment. What can be said is that immigration may cause social isolation, unemployment and the lowering of social status as compared to the one held in the country of origin.
• Crises in family life. Sudden change in family life and family organization due to death, acute illness or divorce may also constitute a risk factor, when combined with other sources of stress and personal predisposition.