The role of co-occurring intimate partner violence, alcohol use, drug use, and depressive symptoms on disciplinary practices of mothers involved with child welfare

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests intimate partner violence (IPV), substance use, and depression adversely affect the disciplinary practices of caregivers involved with child welfare; however, it remains uncertain whether the combined effects of these conditions are syndemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the (1) associations between IPV, problematic drug use, problematic alcohol use, and depressive symptoms and self-reported disciplinary practices among a sample of mothers with child welfare contact; and (2) effect of co-occurrence of these conditions on child disciplinary practices.

Participants and setting: We used data from the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II). The analysis focused on 965 biological mothers with children who were subjects of child abuse/neglect investigations between February 2008 and April 2009 in the United States.

Method: We conducted multiple linear regression analyses.

Results: Our findings showed that IPV (B = .28; 95% CI = [.04, .53]) and depressive symptoms (B = .27; 95% CI = [.03, .52]) were independently associated with psychologically aggressive disciplinary practices. Also, IPV was independently associated with physically aggressive disciplinary practices (B = .64; 95% CI = [.18, 1.11]); and IPV (B = .21; 95% CI = [.06, .35]) and depressive symptoms (B = .22; 95% CI = [.07, .37]) were independently associated with neglectful parenting strategies. A significant effect was found for the interaction between problematic drug use and depressive symptoms with physically aggressive practices as the outcome. As the number of conditions caregivers had increased, so did their propensity for self-reporting each of the disciplinary practices (p < .05).

Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for using a more holistic/multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment prevention research, policy, and intervention.

Keywords: Alcohol use; Child protective services; Child welfare; Depression; Domestic violence; Drug use; Intimate partner violence; Parenting; Substance use.