Placing families with young children on the social inclusion agenda: the importance of multiple adve

1

• Placing families with young children on the
  social inclusion agenda the importance of
  multiple adversity
• Bryan.Rodgers_at_anu.edu.au
• Australian Demographic Social Research Institute

2
Background

• Clarke AM, Clarke ADB, editors. Early experience
  Myth and evidence. London Open Books 1976.
• Rutter M, Madge N. Cycles of disadvantage a
  review of research. London Heinemann 1976.

3
Summary

• Some conceptual and semantic issues
• Historical context of research on disadvantage
• Research designs for intergenerational effects
• Overlap between maltreatment and other
  adversities
• Implications for policy and practice
• Future longitudinal research

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Conceptual and semantic issues

• Distinguishing processes from outcomes
• Avoiding circularity in the argument
• Disadvantage as a multifaceted construct
• Disadvantage is dynamic not static
• Disadvantage should embrace a wide range of
  factors that influence family and individual
  wellbeing

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Relevance to child development

• Our conceptualisation of disadvantage should
  incorporate multiple adversity and cumulative
  adversity that impact on childrens long-term
  social, psychological and physical development.

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Historical context

• Early studies of disadvantage focussed on poverty
  (income and housing especially)
• Shift from studying income to a broader construct
  of material disadvantage (1980s)
• Increasing concern with the social and emotional
  environments of children

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Income transfer

• If both parents remarry, some form of
  equilibrium is restored, although it will not be
  perfect because of the tendency of remarriage to
  generate families of larger size than first
  marriages. No other form of income transfer
  arrangement comes remotely near to remarriage in
  effectiveness in restoring equity between
  children of divorce and other children.
  Despite concerns about the psychological effects
  of remarriage, we might suggest that these
  economic factors are sufficiently compelling to
  enable us to conclude that remarriage should be
  actively promoted.
• (Maclean and Eekelaar, 1983)

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Personals

• M 56 seeks profl F 18-88. Fdship, rmance,
  poss income transfer arrangement. 0416 366 333
• Canberra Times, 2008

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Research designs

• Need prospective and retrospective research
  designs to study effects of childhood adversity
• Prospective studies take a long time and are
  constrained in what is measured (e.g. abuse)
• Retrospective studies are less suited to studying
  dynamic relationships, both for risk factors and
  links to childrens outcomes

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PATH Through Life Project

• Three cohorts aged 20-24, 40-44, 60-64 yrs
• Sampled from the electoral rolls for Canberra
  (ACT) and Queanbeyan (NSW)
• First interviewed in 1999, 2000 2001
  respectively
• N 2,404 (20), 2,530 (40) 2,551 (60)
• Wave 2 (4 yrs on) had 89, 93 and 87 retention

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Prevalence of reported childhood adversity
Type of adversity Mothers depression 23.6 Fathe
rs drinking/drug use 17.7 Family conflict (a
lot) 17.2 Fathers depression 17.1 Strict,
authoritarian upbringing 16.0 Parents
divorce 14.4 Poverty 11.6 Too much physical
punishment 8.2 (cont.)
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Prevalence of reported childhood adversity
Type of adversity Father not at all
affectionate 7.8 Verbal abuse 6.5 Psychological
abuse 5.9 Mothers drinking/drug
use 5.6 Witnessed physical/sexual abuse
5.5 Physical abuse 5.2 Mother not at all
affectionate 2.7 Neglect 1.6 Sexual abuse 1.1
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Abuse questions
Physical abuse I was physically abused by a
parent - punched, kicked, hit or beaten with an
object, or needed medical treatment Psychological
abuse I suffered humiliation, ridicule, bullying
or mental cruelty from a parent
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No maltreatment by other adversity
15
Any maltreatment by other adversity
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multiple maltreatment by other adversity
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Depression by maltreatment
x3 - x4
x2
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How common is multiple maltreatment?

• Total 724 individuals
• 1 type 478 (66)
• 2 types 189 (26)
• 3/4 types 57 (8)

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How common is multiple maltreatment?

• Total 724 individuals
• 1 type 478 (66)
• 2 types 189 (26)
• 3/4 types 57 (8)
• However, for any given type of maltreatment,
  about half of those affected report at least one
  other type of maltreatment (from 49 for CSA to
  56 for physical abuse and neglect).

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Depression by other adversities
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Depression by maltreatment
x3 - x4
x2
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Depression by maltreatment adjusted for other
adversities
x1.2
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What does this mean?

• More than half of the individuals who report any
  type of abuse or neglect in childhood also report
  at least one other type of maltreatment.
• People who experience multiple other adversities
  are much more likely to report maltreatment and
  this maltreatment is more likely to be multiple.
• Does removal of harm have any benefit for those
  who remain affected by other adversities?

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Physical abuse and number of other types of
adversity
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Implications

• Multiple disadvantage is related to poor outcomes
  (regardless of the type of adversity reported)
• Multiple disadvantage is common in families and
  we need services that can cope with this
• Specific adversities (e.g. physical abuse) are
  very good markers of multiple disadvantage
• We need contemporary prospective studies that can
  quantify the extent of multiple disadvantage in
  Australian families and track continuity over time

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Future research with the Longitudinal Study of
Australian Children (LSAC)

• Developing prospective measures of childhood
  adversity a profile of risk in the Longitudinal
  Study of Australian Children (Social Policy
  Research Program of FaHCSIA)
• Consistency and continuity in childhood
  adversity the nature and history of multiple
  disadvantage in families with young children (ARC
  Discovery Project grant)
• Partnership between ADSRI, NCEPH, and CMHR at The
  ANU and FaHCSIA. Multidisciplinary team covering
  many facets of family wellbeing and dynamics.