Literature update #4 (2019)

LITERATURE OVERVIEW: See our list of recently published articles of interest.

Child welfare:

Insecure Adult Attachment and Child Maltreatment: A Meta-Analysis.

Extant evidence has shown that insecure adult attachment is related to dysfunctional parenting styles that heighten parents’ risk of child maltreatment. However, there is a lack of studies appraising the evidence for the association between insecure adult attachment and child maltreatment. This meta-analytic study examined the relationship between parents’ adult attachment and child maltreatment perpetration/child abuse potential. Studies examining the relationship between parents’ adult attachment and child maltreatment/child abuse potential published before February 2017 were identified through a systematic search of online databases. In total, 16 studies (N = 1,830) were selected. Meta-analysis based on random-effects models shows a significant positive association between insecure attachment and child maltreatment (pooled effect size: odds ratio [OR] = 2.93, p = .000). Subgroup analyses show insecure attachment was more strongly associated with failure to thrive (OR = 8.04, p = .000) and filicide (OR = 5.00, p < .05). Medium effect sizes were found for subgroup analyses on insecure romantic attachment (OR = 3.76, p = .000), general attachment (OR = 3.38, p = .000), attachment to own child (OR = 3.13, p = .001), and to own parents (OR = 2.63, p = .000) in relation to child maltreatment.

• Lo, Camilla K. M, Ko Ling Chan, and Patrick Ip. “Insecure Adult Attachment and Child Maltreatment: A Meta-Analysis.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 20.5 (2019): 706-19. Web: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1524838017730579

Domestic violence:

The Nature and Extent of Qualitative Research Conducted With Children About Their Experiences of Domestic Violence: Findings From a Meta-Synthesis

Domestic violence is a significant issue experienced by many children that can have a detrimental impact on their health, development, and well-being. This article reports on the findings of a meta-synthesis that examined the nature and extent of qualitative studies conducted with children about their experience of domestic violence. Studies were identified by a search of electronic databases and included gray literature. Studies were included for review if they were published between 1996 and 2016, were from countries considered as comparable Western nations to Australia and available in the English language, and reported on qualitative studies that directly engaged with children under the age of 18 years on their experiences of intimate partner violence involving one or more of their parents/carers. Forty peer-reviewed publications that reported on 32 studies were included for the review. This study was unique in that it included child participation measures to assess the quality of available studies. This article explores the contribution that research with children has made to our understandings of, and responses to, domestic violence, and provides a critique of the limitations and gaps evident in the extant qualitative research with children on the issue of domestic violence. The article considers implications for future research, policy, and practice and in particular focuses our attention on the need to engage more children more fully in participatory research in the field of domestic violence.

• Noble-Carr, D., Moore, T., & McArthur, M. (2019). The Nature and Extent of Qualitative Research Conducted With Children About Their Experiences of Domestic Violence: Findings From a Meta-Synthesis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019888885