By Ruth Gilbert and Rebecca Lacey, The Lancet, April 30, 2021
Having a parent who was maltreated as a child has been identified as the single most important risk factor for child maltreatment, but there is insufficient evidence from high-quality studies.1, 2 To date, only one published cohort study1 has used prospective, population-based administrative data to minimise biases due to recall, selective recruitment, response, and loss to follow up. In that study, the authors included 85 084 first births to mothers aged 15–19 years and measured child maltreatment recorded by child protective services (CPS) between conception and age 10 years. Risks of both unsubstantiated and substantiated maltreatment were increased in children whose mother had a history of maltreatment.
In The Lancet Public Health, Jason Armfield and colleagues3 add robust and granular evidence of increased risks of maltreatment among children whose mothers experienced childhood maltreatment. The study analysed linked administrative data for all girls born in South Australia between 1986 and 2003 who gave birth in the same state between 2000 and 2017. Linked CPS records for mothers and children provided consistent, objective measures of child maltreatment requiring contact with CPS from birth onwards.
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