Parental compliance to court-ordered treatment interventions in cases of child maltreatment

The authors reviewed 136 court cases representing 218 parents of children maltreated enough to warrant custodial transfer of the child from the parents to the state. The court's psychotherapeutic treatment orders were noted and parental compliance with those orders documented and analyzed. The court issued one or more specific treatment orders to 87.26% of all parents. The most common referrals were those for drug or alcohol treatment (61.9%), individual psychotherapy (60.6%), and family treatment (29.4%). Treatment compliance was significantly lowered in those parents presenting with substance abuse. Compliance was also significantly lower among those parents who sexually and/or physically maltreated their children than among parents who neglected but did not physically or sexually maltreat their children.