Birth Order, Birth Spacing, and Child Maltreatment: The Role of Resource Dilution

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

A large literature documents detrimental effects of short birth spacing (i.e., inter-pregnancy intervals shorter than 18 months) on maternal and child well-being and negative associations between birth order and children’s developmental outcomes. However, in research on child maltreatment, parental fertility patterns are rarely examined (Stith et al., 2009). In this project, we apply the resource dilution hypothesis (Blake, 1981, 1989; Downey, 1995, 2001; Strohschein, 2008; Workman, 2017) to investigate the link between birth order and birth spacing, parental resources, and the risk of child maltreatment. We argue that an addition of a new sibling dilutes parenting resources and that short spacing between children can further intensify this dilution. Dilution in turn can lead to child abuse and/or neglect.
We use data from the Prospective Study of Infant Development, a longitudinal survey of families of 549 infants in Durham, North Carolina. Child maltreatment is measured using indicators of whether any investigation for suspected child maltreatment has been made for the child as well as whether any child maltreatment investigation has been substantiated. We focus on two time periods of observation: within the first 24 months of life and within the first 60 months of life to examine patterns of repeated maltreatment.
Three dimensions of parental resources are examined: material resources, parenting skills, and parental mental health. Measures of resources were collected at the first interview, when infants were 6 months old. We use an array of scales and questionnaires grounded in previous work on maternal mental health, parenting, and financial hardship. Information about parental resources is collected through self-report as well as interviewer observation, adding nuance to our analyses by distinguishing between self-reported and observed resources.
Our analytical approach consist of two step. First, we estimate multivariate analyses for each of the child maltreatment outcomes. Logistic and negative binomial regression models are employed. Second, we fit mediation models using structural equation modelling framework, testing whether parental resources mediate the association between order/birth spacing and child maltreatment.
Preliminary findings indicate that both short birth spacing and family size increase the likelihood of child maltreatment Compared to first born children, both 2nd and higher order children born following short birth spacing had higher odds of any investigation in the first 24 months of life. Children born as either 3rd order or higher order (regardless of birth spacing) had higher odds of any investigation in the first 60 months of life as well as higher mean number of investigations in the first 24 and 60 months of life. The compounding effect of order and spacing is also observed. There is a strong association between being born as a shortly-spaced, higher order child (3 or higher order) and odds of any substantiated child maltreatment investigation by 60 months of life. These preliminary results will be expanded with mediation analyses for the conference presentation.
Improved knowledge about the linkages between childbearing behavior, family resources, and child maltreatment can inform parental decisions about family planning as well as policy initiatives targeted at maltreatment prevention.

Authors

• Anna Rybińska, Duke Univeristy
  Presenting Author

• W. Benjamin Goodman, Duke Univeristy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author