Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:921-928
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychiatric profile and sociodemographic characteristics of adults who report physically abusing or neglecting children
Y Egami, DE Ford, SF Greenfield and RM Crum
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA.
OBJECTIVE: In this study the authors measured the number of adults in three
U.S. communities who reported abusing and neglecting children in their
lifetime and assessed the relative impact of sociodemographic
characteristics and lifetime diagnosis of mental disorders on both child
abuse and child neglect. METHOD: A total of 9,841 respondents, identified
through a household sampling procedure for the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH) Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, were included in the
analysis. Self-reported lifetime histories of abuse and neglect of children
were measured in the antisocial personality module of the NIMH Diagnostic
Interview Schedule. RESULTS: In the study sample, 147 adults (1.49%) stated
that they had abused children, and 140 adults (1.42%) stated that they had
neglected children. A total of 58.5% of those who reported abuse of
children, and 69.3% of those who reported having neglected a child, had a
lifetime diagnosis of a mental disorder. Increased odds of reports of both
abuse and neglect were associated with having a greater number of children
in the household. Low socioeconomic status was a risk factor for
neglecting, but not abusing, children. In multivariate analyses, a lifetime
history of alcohol disorder was associated with abuse and neglect,
affective disorders with abuse, and anxiety disorders with neglecting
children. CONCLUSIONS: In light of the associations between mental
disorders and mistreatment of children, public health policies designed to
prevent child abuse and neglect might be enhanced by an increased focus on
interventions targeted at individuals with mental disorders.
