Examining mental health service use across intergenerational patterns of child protection system contact: A case for cross-sector supports

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Mckenzie, Emma F
Thompson, Carleen M
Ogilvie, James M
Tzoumakis, Stacy
Hurren, Emily
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2025
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Background: There is limited population-based research examining mental health (MH) service use across distinct patterns of intergenerational child maltreatment, which is crucial to understand links and appropriate responses. Objectives: To examine the prevalence, frequency, timing, and types of MH service use across the intergenerational maltreatment groups: maltreated parents with maltreated children (cycle maintainers), maltreated parents with non-maltreated children (cycle breakers), non-maltreated parents with maltreated children (cycle initiators), and no maltreatment in either generation (comparison group). Participants and settings: Data were drawn from a longitudinal administrative data repository from Queensland, Australia (n = 32,494). Intergenerational maltreatment was measured using child protection system (CPS) contacts. MH contacts were measured using community MH service usage and mental illness diagnoses upon hospital admissions. Methods: Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted with the full sample to assess differences in MH contacts. Binary logistic regressions were conducted limited to the maltreatment groups (i.e., excluding the no maltreatment comparison group). The mean counts of community MH contacts and MH hospital admissions by age were plotted. Results: Compared with breakers, maintainers were more likely to have community MH contact (OR = 4.18), 3+ MH hospital admissions (OR = 5.85), and a psychiatric ward admission (OR = 3.39). Compared with breakers, initiators were also more likely to have community MH contact (OR = 2.35), 3+ MH hospital admissions (OR = 3.17), and a psychiatric ward admission (OR = 2.28). Conclusions: The significant overlaps between MH and CPS contact suggest a need for ongoing research, and integrated consideration of MH and family risks and needs in both systems, to support positive intergenerational outcomes.

Journal Title

Child Abuse & Neglect

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

163

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Criminology

Social work

Applied and developmental psychology

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Mckenzie, EF; Thompson, CM; Ogilvie, JM; Tzoumakis, S; Hurren, E, Examining mental health service use across intergenerational patterns of child protection system contact: A case for cross-sector supports, Child Abuse & Neglect, 2025, 163, pp. 107426

Collections