Types, Subtypes, and Severity of Substantiated Child Neglect in U.S. Army Communities

Neglect has been linked to short-term and long-term deleterious outcomes in children, but has received little attention in the research literature.

Identify types, subtypes, and severity of child neglect in a sample of substantiated cases at 4 U.S. Army installations. Describe demographic correlates of victims and offenders by type and subtype.

Data were collected from archived clinical records. A stratified random sample of 100 substantiated child neglect case files were selected per site (N = 400). Data from a single child per case file were used.

5 types and 17 subtypes of neglect were represented, singly or in combination, with varying severity. Lack of Supervision was most common (n = 177, 35.3%), followed by Emotional Neglect (n = 159, 31.8%), Failure to Provide Physical Needs (n = 131, 26.2%), Moral-Legal Neglect (n = 20, 4%), and Educational Neglect (n = 13; 2.6%). Child neglect occurred mostly among young children and in young enlisted families.

Current results highlight the need to focus on types, subtypes, and severity of neglect incidents that provide specific understanding of child risk to better inform policy. Further study should examine specific risk factors and their relationship to neglect types and severity outcomes.