Afifi, T. O., Taillieu, T., Zamorski, M. A., Turner, S., Cheung, K., & Sareen, J. (2016). Association of child abuse exposure with suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts in military personnel and the general population in Canada. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(3), 229-238.
This study looked at the suicide related outcomes in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), including the Afghanistan Reserve Force (ARF) personnel and the Canadian general population (CGP). Data from the 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS) and the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health (CCHS-MH) were used to examine the association between suicidal ideation, plans and attempts and child maltreatment (exposure to intimate partner violence, sexual abuse and physical abuse). The two surveys yielded a combined total of 24,142 individuals between the ages of 18 and 60 years old, who reported on their mental health and childhood maltreatment experiences. Findings indicated that the proportion of individuals exposed to child maltreatment was highest among military personnel - CGP (33%), CAF (48%) and ARF (49%). All forms of childhood maltreatment were related to increased odds of suicidal ideation, plans and attempts for CGP (AOR= 3 to 7.7) and CAF (AOR= 1.7 to 6.3). Respondents who reported a history of maltreatment and experienced deployment trauma had increased odds of suicidal ideation and plans in the past year compared with those who only experienced deployment traumas. Finally, the interaction between childhood exposure to abuse and deployment-related trauma was not significant.
Black, T., Saini, M., Fallon, B., Deljavan, S., Theoduloz, R., & Wall, M. (2016). The intersection of child custody disputes and child protection investigations: secondary data analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008). International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 143-157.
Parental conflict has been found to be a significant predictor of children’s maladjustment post separation. This study identifies child custody dispute characteristics that are associated with child protection investigations using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, 2008 (CIS-2008). It examined whether investigations with noted child custody disputes differ from those investigations that do not have such disputes.
Of the estimated 235,842 child protection investigations in Canada in 2008, an estimated 29,218 investigations had noted child custody dispute cases. Approximately 23% of child custody dispute investigations involved allegations of neglect, 20.3% involved exposure to intimate partner violence, 16.7% of investigations involved an allegation of physical abuse, 9.7% involved emotional maltreatment, and 5.3% involved an allegation of sexual abuse. Investigations with noted custody disputes are significantly different from investigations without custody disputes. For example, investigations involving custody disputes were more likely to have been investigated for emotional maltreatment (9% vs. 6%), involve a malicious referral (25% vs. 12%), involve a caregiver with drug or solvent abuse (17% vs. 13%) or mental health issues (27% vs. 20%). The authors note the significant overlap between custody disputes and exposure to intimate partner violence. Investigations involving custody disputes were significantly less likely to result in out of home placements or to stay open for ongoing child welfare services than those without custody disputes, even when controlling for child, household, and maltreatment risk factors. This could mean that child protection services are prematurely closing custody cases.