Doctoral Student University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
Overview: Child maltreatment is a public health concern associated with developmental consequences for children. Albeit, there are no studies addressing this problems among immigrants at a county-level. This study aims to answer this question: Are child maltreatment report rates associated with county-level factors in counties with higher immigrants than other counties?Proposal text: Introduction Child maltreatment is public health crisis linked to long-term health and developmental consequences for the affected children. Immigrant families living in the U.S. are not exempted from facing insurmountable challenges that may place them at risk of involvement with child welfare systems that can lead to child welfare reports, investigations, and child removal. Therefore, this study seeks to address the following question: Are child maltreatment report rates associated with county-level factors in counties with more immigrants than other counties? Methods This cross-sectional study involved county-level child maltreatment report rates drawn from 2563 counties out of 3,141 from the 2015 fiscal year. A county-level dataset was created, and data were merged from different sources that included the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), the U.S. Census, and County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (CHR), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (UBLS), United States Department of Agriculture Survey distributed by Meal the Gap, American Community Survey (ACA), Centers for Medicare and Medical Services (CMS) provider identification file, and U.S. Census – Small Area Income and Poverty Estimate (SAIPE) program. This study assessed the relationship between child maltreatment report rates (measured continuously) and counties with more immigrants (categorical: yes/no), child poverty rates, unemployment rates, excessive drinking rates, food insecurity rates, and single-parenthood rates (measured continuously). Data were examined using bivariate Pearson correlations, independent t-tests, and multiple linear regression analyses (SPSS vs.27). Results The median county-level child maltreatment report rate was 34.03/1000 children across the U.S. The mean child maltreatment reports rates were lower among counties with more immigrants than in other counties (22.2 vs. 24.3%; P
