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. 2022 Apr;23(2):639-659.
doi: 10.1177/1524838020939136. Epub 2020 Jul 17.

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Caroline E Chandler  1 , Anna E Austin  1   2 , Meghan E Shanahan  1   2
Affiliations

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Caroline E Chandler et al. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a significant public health issue in the United States. Understanding key risk factors for child maltreatment is critical to informing effective prevention. Poverty is an established risk factor for child maltreatment. However, recent research indicates that material hardship (i.e., difficulties meeting basic needs) may serve as a more direct measure of the way in which poverty affects daily life. One form of material hardship that is common among families is housing stress. Previous reviews have summarized the existing literature regarding the association of economic insecurity with child maltreatment, but no reviews have synthesized and critically evaluated the literature specific to the association of various types of housing stress with child maltreatment. We conducted a systematic search of multiple electronic databases to identify peer-reviewed studies conducted in the U.S. regarding the association of housing stress with child maltreatment. We identified 21 articles that used nine distinct measures of housing stress including homelessness or eviction, homeless or emergency shelter stays, foreclosure filing, housing instability, inadequate housing, physical housing risk, living doubled-up, housing unaffordability, and composite housing stress indicators. Overall, results from this body of literature indicate that housing stress is associated with an increased likelihood of caregiver or child self-reported maltreatment, child protective services (CPS) reports, investigated and substantiated CPS reports, out-of-home placements, and maltreatment death. Additional theory-driven research is needed to further our understanding of the contribution of specific types of housing stress to risk for specific types of maltreatment.

Keywords: child abuse; family issues and mediators; neglect; prevention of child abuse.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests, if any: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Search terms
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) diagram
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