Re: teen parents and the risk for child abuse

["Rick Barth" <rbarth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

THe best study on this, in my view, is the one done by Bong Joo Lee and Bob Goerge
which showed that teenage parents are more likely to become involved with child
welfare but this occurs in a delayed way--that is, several years, children, (and
probably several partners), after their teenage years end.  Barbara Needell and I
also showed that the caregivers most at risk of losing newborns to foster care
were not young and poor (which is fairly normative), but were older and still poor
and had many children.  This is consistent with a long history of evidence that
when teenage parents stay connected to their family of origin and use their
support, this is a protective factor.

Lee, B. J., & Goerge, R. M. (1999). Poverty, early childbearing, and child
maltreatment: A multinomial analysis. Children & Youth Services Review, 21(9/10),
755-780.

Needell, B., & Barth, R. (1998). Infants entering foster care compared to other
infants using birth status indicators. Child Abuse & Negect, 22, 1179-1188.

Barth, R. (1988). Social skill and social support among young mothers. Journal of
Community Psychology, 16, 132-143.

Rick

Richard P. Barth, Ph.D.
Frank A Daniels Professor and
Chair of the Doctoral Program
School of Social Work
301 Pittsboro Rd, TTK Room 524J
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3550
(v) 919 962 6516
(f)        962 1486

-- Begin original message --

From: Hayley Williamson <hwilliamson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 11:15:31 -0500
Subject: teen parents and the risk for child abuse
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers   <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any recent studies that have looked at the 
relationship between teen parenting and child abuse.  In addition to 
studies, are there any organizations that you know of that specifically 
work to help teen parents or professionals working with teen parents.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Hayley Williamson, MSSW
Program Coordinator

Prevent Child Abuse Wisconsin
214 North Hamilton Street
Madison, WI 53703
phone:  608-256-3374
fax:  608-256-3378
www.preventchildabusewi.org



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