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Is childhood cruelty to animals a marker for physical maltreatment in a prospective cohort study of children?
- Source :
- McEwen, F S, Moffitt, T E & Arseneault, L 2014, ' Is childhood cruelty to animals a marker for physical maltreatment in a prospective cohort study of children? ', Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 533-543 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.016
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2014.
-
Abstract
- Childhood cruelty to animals is thought to indicate that a child may have been maltreated. This study examined: (a) prevalence of cruelty to animals among 5- to 12-year-old children; (b) the association between cruelty to animals, child physical maltreatment, and adult domestic violence; and (c) whether cruelty to animals is a marker of maltreatment taking into account age, persistence of cruelty, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Data were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, an epidemiological representative cohort of 2,232 children living in the United Kingdom. Mothers reported on cruelty to animals when children were 5, 7, 10, and 12 years, on child maltreatment up to age 12, and adult domestic violence. Nine percent of children were cruel to animals during the study and 2.6% persistently (>= 2 time-points). Children cruel to animals were more likely to have been maltreated than other children (OR = 3.32) although the majority (56.4%) had not been maltreated. Animal cruelty was not associated with domestic violence when maltreatment was controlled for. In disadvantaged families, 6 in 10 children cruel to animals had been maltreated. In other families, the likelihood of maltreatment increased with age (from 3 in 10 5-year-olds to 4.5 in 10 12-year-olds) and persistence (4.5 in 10 of those persistently cruel). Although childhood cruelty to animals is associated with maltreatment, not every child showing cruelty had been maltreated. The usefulness of cruelty to animals as a marker for maltreatment increases with the child's age, persistence of behavior, and poorer social background.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Child abuse
PARTNERS
Domestic Violence
medicine.medical_specialty
Animal abuse
EMPATHY
Poison control
Cruelty
Animal Welfare
Article
Domestic violence
ENVIRONMENTAL-INFLUENCES
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Animal welfare
Injury prevention
Prevalence
Developmental and Educational Psychology
medicine
Animals
Humans
Cruelty to animals
Child Abuse
Prospective Studies
ABUSE
Child
Psychiatry
Child maltreatment
ASSOCIATIONS
Animal cruelty
ANTISOCIAL-BEHAVIOR
United Kingdom
FAMILY
CONDUCT PROBLEMS
Psychiatry and Mental health
ADOLESCENCE
Child, Preschool
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Cohort
Female
Psychology
VIOLENCE
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01452134
- Volume :
- 38
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....65ad172d42f77229e55e9085bfe9347f