Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy
Background and Aims. Research on child maltreatment has largely overlooked the under-five age group and focuses primarily on quantitative measurement. This mixed-methods study of maltreated children (N=92) entering care (age 6–60 months) combines a quantitative focus on the associations between care...
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Wiley
2016-01-01
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| Series: | The Scientific World Journal |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1869673 |
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| author | Samuel Glass Ruchika Gajwani Fiona Turner-Halliday |
| author_facet | Samuel Glass Ruchika Gajwani Fiona Turner-Halliday |
| author_sort | Samuel Glass |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background and Aims. Research on child maltreatment has largely overlooked the under-five age group and focuses primarily on quantitative measurement. This mixed-methods study of maltreated children (N=92) entering care (age 6–60 months) combines a quantitative focus on the associations between care journey characteristics and mental health outcomes with a qualitative exploration of maltreatment in four different families. Methods. Care journey data was obtained from social care records; mental health and attachment assessments were carried out following entry to care; qualitative data comprised semistructured interviews with professionals, foster carers, and parents. Results. Significant associations were found between suspected sexual abuse and increased DAI inhibited attachment symptoms (p=0.001) and between reported domestic violence and decreased DAI inhibited (p=0.016) and disinhibited (p=0.004) attachment symptoms. Qualitative results: two themes demonstrate the complexity of assessing maltreatment: (1) overlapping maltreatment factors occur in most cases and (2) maltreatment effects may be particularly challenging to isolate. Conclusions. Qualitative exploration has underscored the complexity of assessing maltreatment, indicating why expected associations were not found in this study and posing questions for the quantitative measurement of maltreatment in general. We therefore suggest a new categorisation of maltreatment and call for the complimentary research lenses of further mixed-methods approaches. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3ab39b154c774d44abcf6624e26b5b50 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2356-6140 1537-744X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | The Scientific World Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-3ab39b154c774d44abcf6624e26b5b502025-02-03T01:20:25ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2016-01-01201610.1155/2016/18696731869673Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in InfancySamuel Glass0Ruchika Gajwani1Fiona Turner-Halliday2Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Academic Unit of Mental Health & Wellbeing, Caledonia House, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UKInstitute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Academic Unit of Mental Health & Wellbeing, Caledonia House, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UKInstitute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Academic Unit of Mental Health & Wellbeing, Caledonia House, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UKBackground and Aims. Research on child maltreatment has largely overlooked the under-five age group and focuses primarily on quantitative measurement. This mixed-methods study of maltreated children (N=92) entering care (age 6–60 months) combines a quantitative focus on the associations between care journey characteristics and mental health outcomes with a qualitative exploration of maltreatment in four different families. Methods. Care journey data was obtained from social care records; mental health and attachment assessments were carried out following entry to care; qualitative data comprised semistructured interviews with professionals, foster carers, and parents. Results. Significant associations were found between suspected sexual abuse and increased DAI inhibited attachment symptoms (p=0.001) and between reported domestic violence and decreased DAI inhibited (p=0.016) and disinhibited (p=0.004) attachment symptoms. Qualitative results: two themes demonstrate the complexity of assessing maltreatment: (1) overlapping maltreatment factors occur in most cases and (2) maltreatment effects may be particularly challenging to isolate. Conclusions. Qualitative exploration has underscored the complexity of assessing maltreatment, indicating why expected associations were not found in this study and posing questions for the quantitative measurement of maltreatment in general. We therefore suggest a new categorisation of maltreatment and call for the complimentary research lenses of further mixed-methods approaches.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1869673 |
| spellingShingle | Samuel Glass Ruchika Gajwani Fiona Turner-Halliday Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy The Scientific World Journal |
| title | Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy |
| title_full | Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy |
| title_fullStr | Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy |
| title_short | Does Quantitative Research in Child Maltreatment Tell the Whole Story? The Need for Mixed-Methods Approaches to Explore the Effects of Maltreatment in Infancy |
| title_sort | does quantitative research in child maltreatment tell the whole story the need for mixed methods approaches to explore the effects of maltreatment in infancy |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1869673 |
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