How do Social Norms Around Child Maltreatment, Child Well-Being Impact Opinions about Parenting?

• In Event: Disrupting the Cycle of Intergenerational Adversity through Parenting: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Abstract

Substantial evidence demonstrates that child maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are preventable through approaches that address the socio-environmental contexts that shape positive parenting practices. Understanding norms about child maltreatment, child well-being and parenting can not only drive issue salience but help in developing programs and practices that reach parents and caregivers to provide needed supports and resources. This study examined public opinions about child maltreatment, prevention and resilience in South Carolina. A telephone survey was conducted in Fall 2019 (n=1,145, response rate=25.8%) with a random sample of adults in South Carolina. Respondents were asked the extent to which they agree that their community should make sure that every child has safe, stable, and caring relationships and environments (community orientation), the extent to which a child’s ability to bounce back is learned (individualism), one caring adult who is willing to help can protect a child from abuse and neglect (prevention orientation), whether it is okay to ask for help with parenting (help-seeking) and whether the government and other organizations should help parents who don’t have support from family and friends (attribution of responsibility). Stronger agreement for community orientation was significantly associated with strong help seeking opinions and stronger attribution of government responsibility to promote positive parenting when controlling for other demographics (t=5.43, p=0.000). Stronger prevention orientation (t=5.49, p=0.000) was significantly associated with increased help-seeking and attribution of responsibility to promote positive parenting practices. (t=-2.54, p=0.011). There was not a significant association between perceived individualism associated with resilience and the outcomes of interest. Results indicate that changing social norms about child maltreatment and child well-being specifically around the collective role of communities, the importance of safe-stable nurturing relationships, and the ability to help a child build resilience, important implications for population level interventions and efforts the promote positive parenting.

Author

• Aditi Srivastav, Children’s Trust of South Carolina
  Presenting Author