CURRENT PSYCHOLOGICAL MALTREATMENT ALLIANCE STUDIES
Growing Up And Social Media
The PMA recently launched a survey study of 289 18to 23 year-olds regarding their social media experiences, viewing habits and endorsement of laws. The first paper focuses on the 89 youth whose parents posted images of them on social media when they were children. This paper will examine the extent to which the images posted of them reflected privacy violations and/or psychological maltreatment, their positive and negative experiences being posted about, and whether those experiences were associated with endorsement of laws that would prevent caregivers from posting images of their children. The second paper will focus on reported parenting styles of their parents and relationships between that and their own social media viewing habits. The final paper will address the extent to which they experienced pressure and coercion to agree to be posted about. Taken together the study will shine much needed light on the experience of sharenting from the perspective of youth. Implications will be presented for content moderation, parent education, and child rights advocacy.
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Psychological Maltreating Behaviors by Parents on TikTok
Paper 1: In the first of three studies, we examined TikTok user engagement when parents posted videos engaging in psychological maltreatment (PM) behaviors towards their children, looking at 2,684 videos from 35 different creators. We looked at five different engagement metrics: (views, likes, comments, saves. and shares) for videos with and without PMB, for videos with and without children and for videos before and after the first PMB video. All but one analysis was significant (effect sizes from .28 to .59, average r = .46). These data have implications for changing social norms around the type of content parents post about their children and for child welfare professionals. Findings are found in Stormer, B., Chandler-Ofuya, N., Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., Balin, T., & Rosenzweig, J. (2023). Caregiver psychological maltreatment of children on TikTok. Child Maltreatment.
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Paper 2: In the second paper, we looked only at the 184 videos with psychological maltreatment occurring to determine: (1) the type of PM, (2) the apparent motivation of the parent, (3) whether parents were trying to boost engagement of these videos, and (4) whether the child was in distress. We found four types of PM (spurning, terrorizing, exploiting/corrupting, and denying emotional responsiveness). Parents seemed to be responding to their child's perceived misbehavior and/or trying to provoke their child. Most parents tried to boost the user engagement of these videos through popular audio, amusing captions and hashtags, and manipulation of the footage; and most children were in distress/danger while few parents addressed the child's emotional and physical needs. These findings can be found in: Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., Balin, T., Boyd, D., Chandler-Ofuya, N., & Kagan, J. (2025). What psychological maltreatment behaviors towards children are posted on TikTok and why? Journal of Family Violence.
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Paper 3: The third paper is currently under review and focuses on the user comments posted in response to 56 videos in which parents were spurning and/or terrorizing their children. We found that all videos received at least some positive feedback while only some received any negative feedback. When a user criticized a parent for their harsh and/or harmful parenting, the parent either ignored or rejected the feedback and in many cases the other viewers attacked the person who made the criticism. These data establish that this platform of social media is reinforcing parents for engaging in psychologically maltreating behaviors of their children.
RESEARCH
COMPLETED PSYCHOLOGICAL MALTREATMENT ALLIANCE STUDIES
Rates of Psychological Maltreatment
US State statutes were coded and compared with reported rates of four different forms of child maltreatment in the 2014 and 1998 NCANDS data sets. For 2014, the difference in reported rates of PM between the State with the lowest rate and the State with the highest rate was 523-fold which was much higher than for physical (30- fold) and sexual abuse (20-fold) but not neglect (524-fold). Statutes still use the term “mental injury” from the original Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and two thirds did not define it. Reported rates of PM in NCANDS were not correlated with whether PM was defined in the statute but when a harm standard was present, reported rates were statistically lower. From these data it can be concluded that a common, reliable definition of PM (and other forms of maltreatment) in CAPTA, NCANDS, and US State statutes is necessary for the US to have a surveillance system that allows for the assessment of the effects of policies on reported rates of all forms of maltreatment. Baker, A.J.L. & Brassard, M.R. (2019). Predictors of variation in state reported rates of psychological maltreatment: A survey of U.S. statutes and a call for change. Child Abuse & Neglect, 96.
Survey of APSAC Membership
Paper 1: Despite reliable definitions and evidence of harm to children, psychological maltreatment (PM) is significantly less reported to Child Protective Services than physical or sexual abuse in the United States. This study was designed to identify factors influencing identification and intent to report psychological maltreatment. The sample was comprised of membership of APSAC, a multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the field of child maltreatment, with 39% response rate to the anonymous online survey. Results revealed that only 4 of the 18 PM items were identified by most respondents as definitely PM. Most respondents believed that PM was associated with harmful outcomes “sometimes” or “mostly.” Respondents revealed an intent to report to CPS only 4 of the 18 PM behaviors. We concluded that professionals in the field of maltreatment need more training on identification and reporting of PM. A model definition of PM should be developed in order to increase reliability of identification of psychological maltreatment.​ Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., & Rosenzweig, J. (2021). Psychological maltreatment: Definition and reporting barriers among American professionals in the field of child abuse, Child Abuse & Neglect, 114.
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Paper 2: More than 450 professionals with direct responsibility for advising parents were surveyed about psychological maltreatment (PM). Many reported not being trained to prevent or respond to PM. While many prioritized advising parents, most did not believe that parents value or heed their advice. Encouragingly, most professionals reported high levels of motivation to learn more about PM and intervening effectively with families. Recommendations include more role-specific training in PM identification, prevention, and intervention. Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., & Rosenzweig, J. (2021). Providing parents with advice about alternatives to psychological maltreatment: A survey of professionals in the field of child maltreatment. Child Welfare, 99 (1), 93-115.
In-Depth Interview Study of Human Service Professionals
Twenty-four human service were interviewed about the types of poor parenting they observed and the barriers they perceived to their intervening. Using an inductive grounded theory approach, a set of themes were identified based on the content of the interviews. Seven types of problematic parenting were mentioned (physical aggression, verbal aggression and rejection threats, lack of supervision, poor parental coping, interfering with a child abuse investigation, and imposing their own needs on the child) along with five main categories of barriers to intervention (role constraint, behavior not bad enough, bad timing, uncertain what to do, and fear of parental response). Human service professionals are in a position to observe parents engaging in behaviors that if persistent or severe would qualify as child maltreatment. Many do not intervene even though they are concerned about the impact of these parental behaviors on children. Agencies that provide human services to parents and children can benefit from providing their workers with enhanced training, support, and practice in intervening in ways that can feel helpful and respectful. In addition, they could engage in efforts to improve the environments and culture of their agencies to reduce parental stressors which are significant triggers for poor parenting. Baker. A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., Rosenzweig, J., & Murov, R. (2024). Human service professionals’ observations of suboptimal parenting: Barriers to intervention and potential solutions. Children and Youth Services Review, 162. Additional data is being analyzed.
Analysis of Parenting Blogs
​Paper 1: This study assessed the quality of information about corporal punishment (CP) and psychological maltreatment (PM) offered in 236 on-line parenting blogs. Results revealed that fewer than 15% of posts made an unambiguous statement against CP, explained that it was harmful and/or ineffective, cited research evidence against its use, or countered reasons for its use. Not one post mentioned all six types of PM and the most common forms were mentioned by fewer than one third. Human service professionals should be aware that many online parenting resources are unlikely to warn parents against these harmful parenting behaviors. . Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., Rosenzweig, J., Kagan, J., Stormer, B., & Adkins, K.L. (2024). Do online parenting blogs discourage psychological maltreatment and corporal punishment? Journal of Public Child Welfare, 18(2), 338-357.
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Paper 2: This paper examined the quality of online parenting information produced in response to an internet search query, “How do I discipline my child.” To that end, 236 internet posts were coded to determine the extent to which they endorsed: (a) eight different evidence-based discipline alternatives to psychological aggression and corporal punishment; (b) six different aspects of parental acceptance and warmth; and (c) five positive parenting behaviors. Findings revealed that in general, the posts are consistent with evidence-based parenting practices. However, posts mentioned on average only one discipline strategy, with a strong preference for time-out and logical consequences over the other strategies. One fourth of the posts did not mention any aspect of parental acceptance, which is a vital component of parenting, and one third of the posts did not mention any aspect of positive parenting. Fewer than half of the posts had at least one element of all three. Parents seeking assistance with child-rearing would need additional guidance and support than what is offered in these posts. Baker, A.J.L., Brassard, M.R., Kagan, J., Stormer, B., Adkins, K.L., Rosenzweig, J., & Chandler-Ofuya, N. (2022). On-line parenting information through the lens of child abuse prevention: A content analysis. Child Welfare, 100 (5), 53-77