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Children
Special Issues
Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being
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Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Pediatric Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 January 2025 | Viewed by 4527

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yanfeng Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, 1512 Pendleton St Hamilton College, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Interests: child maltreatment; foster care; kinship care; grandparents raising grandchildren
Dr. Merav Jedwab

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social Work, Sapir Academic College, Sderot 7956000, Israel
Interests: child abuse and neglect; CPS; decision making; foster care; out-of-home care

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Families change constantly and contemporary family structures are more complex and diverse than those from a decade or even longer ago in any country. Family complexity refers to a variety of family structures (e.g., shared-custody families, same-sex families, families with nonresidential and co-residential partnerships, grandparent-headed families) and sibling compositions (e.g., half or stepsiblings). With rapid changes occurring in family structures globally, there is a pressing need for additional research to examine child maltreatment and/or child well-being within these complex structures. Developing a more in-depth knowledge base of child maltreatment and child well-being in diverse family structures would empower us to better integrate family complexity into the improvement of child well-being through services and policies. We invite you to submit manuscripts that address family complexity and child maltreatment/child well-being that also address the implications for practices and policies. We enthusiastically invite a variety of research from different countries and diverse populations, and welcome submissions employing various research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, and systematic/scoping reviews. By encompassing diverse approaches, we seek to gather a comprehensive array of perspectives on this important topic.

Dr. Yanfeng Xu
Dr. Merav Jedwab
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • child maltreatment/child well-being in different types of complex family structures, particularly among racial/ethnic minorities
  • family dynamics/relationships and child maltreatment/child well-being in different types of complex family structures
  • interventions/policies to reduce child maltreatment in different types of complex family structures
  • interventions/policies to improve child well-being in different types of complex family structures
  • disparities in child maltreatment/child well-being among different types of complex family structures

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 853 KiB  
Article
Hasn’t Child Abuse Been Overlooked? An Evaluation of Abused Children Who Visited the Emergency Department with Sentinel Injuries
by Han Bit Kim and Hyun Noh
Children 2024, 11(11), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11111389 - 15 Nov 2024
Viewed by 344
Abstract
Objective: Effective child abuse intervention requires understanding its prevalence. While obtaining a comprehensive national estimate of child abuse cases is challenging, sentinel injuries—minor yet unusual injuries like bruises or wounds in pre-cruising-age children—can provide an indicative measure. Using the National Emergency Department Information [...] Read more.
Objective: Effective child abuse intervention requires understanding its prevalence. While obtaining a comprehensive national estimate of child abuse cases is challenging, sentinel injuries—minor yet unusual injuries like bruises or wounds in pre-cruising-age children—can provide an indicative measure. Using the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data, this study aimed to gauge the prevalence of sentinel injuries using diagnostic codes in children under 12 months who visited emergency centers in South Korea and to evaluate the extent of child abuse screening in these cases. Methods: This cross-sectional study used diagnostic codes indicative of sentinel injuries previously defined using the Delphi method. This study, using NEDIS data, included children under 12 months who visited emergency centers nationwide from 2014 to 2021 for reasons of injury. Children injured in car accidents were excluded. Independent variables included patient demographics, the injury mechanism, intentionality, the route of arrival, the emergency center level, the triage level, and specialist consultation. Dependent variables were the presence of a sentinel injury code, and whether diagnostic tests for child abuse were conducted. Results: Based on NEDIS and national statistical data, the frequency from 2014 to 2021 averaged 2501 per 100,000 of the population. Of the 186,065 patients studied, 63,131 (33.9%) had a diagnostic code corresponding to a sentinel injury. The proportion of patients undergoing diagnostic tests for suspected child abuse was 36.9% for those with sentinel injuries and 43.8% for those with other codes. The percentage of children with sentinel injuries receiving diagnostic tests increased annually, from 32.4% in 2014 to 54.4% in 2021. By institution, the rates were 36.4% for regional emergency centers, 38.4% for local emergency centers, and 20.0% for local emergency institutions. Conclusions: A significant proportion of children presenting to emergency departments had sentinel injury codes. However, the rate of diagnostic tests conducted for suspected child abuse in these cases remains suboptimal. Although there has been an upward trend in testing rates in recent years, there is a pressing need for increased attention to and enhancement in screening for child abuse among children with sentinel injury codes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being)
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11 pages, 447 KiB  
Article
Mothers’ Adverse Childhood Experiences Moderate the Association between Maternal Anger and Children’s Externalizing Symptoms
by Tiago Castro, Rita Pasion, Carla Antunes, Francisca Alves, Inês Jongenelen and Diogo Lamela
Children 2024, 11(8), 1002; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11081002 - 16 Aug 2024
Viewed by 599
Abstract
Background/objectives: This study examined the association between maternal anger, children’s externalizing symptoms, and the moderating impact of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). The primary objective was to investigate whether maternal ACEs alter the link between [...] Read more.
Background/objectives: This study examined the association between maternal anger, children’s externalizing symptoms, and the moderating impact of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). The primary objective was to investigate whether maternal ACEs alter the link between maternal anger and children’s externalizing symptoms, guided by theoretical frameworks such as the stress sensitization and stress steeling models. Methods: A sample of 159 Portuguese mothers exposed to IPV participated in the study, completing a protocol of self-report measures. Measured variables included maternal anger, ACEs, children’s externalizing symptoms, and IPV. Results: Results indicate a significant moderation effect of ACEs on the association between maternal anger and externalizing symptoms at low levels of ACEs. Conversely, at moderate and high ACEs levels, no statistically significant association exists between maternal anger and children’s externalizing symptoms. Conclusions: Clinical implications emphasize the importance of tailored parenting interventions to prevent externalizing symptoms in children, integrating diverse emotion regulation strategies while considering the impact of maternal ACEs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being)
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17 pages, 760 KiB  
Article
Unveiling Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure in China: An Ecological Exploration of Survivors’ Experiences
by Tian Tian, Ilan Katz and Xiaoyuan Shang
Children 2024, 11(6), 688; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11060688 - 4 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1378
Abstract
Through a thematic analysis of firsthand posts from 258 abuse survivors in online forums from 2016 to 2023, this research examines the barriers that Chinese children encounter when disclosing sexual abuse. The anonymous narratives shed light on the motives behind survivors’ reluctance to [...] Read more.
Through a thematic analysis of firsthand posts from 258 abuse survivors in online forums from 2016 to 2023, this research examines the barriers that Chinese children encounter when disclosing sexual abuse. The anonymous narratives shed light on the motives behind survivors’ reluctance to reveal abuse, the outcomes following disclosure, and the wider implications for survivors and their families under culture. The findings underscore the need for early intervention upon disclosure, aiming to safeguard children from further harm and foster the development of an effective child protection framework. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being)
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13 pages, 515 KiB  
Article
Exploring Gender Moderation: The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms
by Fei Pei
Children 2024, 11(4), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11040389 - 25 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1056
Abstract
Limited previous studies investigated the influences of various types of neighborhood factors on adolescent behavior problems. Meanwhile, although previous theoretical frameworks suggested that gender played a significant role in terms of neighborhood impacts on adolescent behavioral problems, few studies investigated the gender differences [...] Read more.
Limited previous studies investigated the influences of various types of neighborhood factors on adolescent behavior problems. Meanwhile, although previous theoretical frameworks suggested that gender played a significant role in terms of neighborhood impacts on adolescent behavioral problems, few studies investigated the gender differences in such neighborhood influences. Using the year 9 and year 15 data of the national dataset Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS, overly sampled participants from low-income families), this study examined how the neighborhood structural and process factors can affect adolescent behavioral problems (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) and whether gender worked as a significant moderator for such relationships in the U.S. Structural equation models and multigroup SEM were estimated (N = 3411). Findings suggested that residential instability was associated with increased levels of internalizing symptoms among adolescents at age 15, whereas neighborhood social cohesion was linked to reduced levels of externalizing symptoms throughout adolescence. Furthermore, the moderating effects of gender were found for the association between residential instability and internalizing symptoms. Implications of such findings are further discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growing Up Unequal: Family Complexity, Child Maltreatment and Child Well-Being)
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