Relationships Between Caregiver Substance Use Disorder and Child Maltreatment in the Context of Non-Victimization Life Adversities: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample of Youth

Although the relationship between caregiver substance use disorder (SUD) and child maltreatment has been well established, much of this knowledge been based on administrative data such as child welfare and protection services or retrospective reports of adults. These relationships also need to be examined in the context of a range of linked non-victimization adversities, such as having caregivers who always argue and exposure to suicide. The goal of this study was to assess the associations between diagnosed caregiver SUD and youth self-reported experience of maltreatment in the context of non-victimization adversities. Three national cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2008, 2011, and 2014, resulting in a pooled sample of 6364 youth (48.8% female), ages 10‑17 years, residing in the USA. Among all youth, 6.8% had at least one caregiver with a SUD: 3.7% had a father only; 2.1% a mother only; and 1% had both with a SUD. Compared to no SUD, the expected child maltreatment count for father only SUD increased by a coefficient of .49 (p < .001), for mother only it increased by .73 (p < .001), and for both caregivers it increased by .79 (p < .001). After taking into account number of non-victimization adversities, the relationships between father only and months only SUD and child maltreatment became non-significant while having both caregivers with SUD remained significant (.72, p < .001). Findings support the need for a more comprehensive approach to the prevention and intervention of child maltreatment that encompasses the intersection and accumulation of stressors that are linked to caregiver SUD.