Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study

Background: It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories. Objective: Children of parents with and without ID were compared...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lianne Bakkum, Carlo Schuengel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Child Protection and Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S295019382500049X
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850218962175918080
author Lianne Bakkum
Carlo Schuengel
author_facet Lianne Bakkum
Carlo Schuengel
author_sort Lianne Bakkum
collection DOAJ
description Background: It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories. Objective: Children of parents with and without ID were compared on the following characteristics of care: age at entry (weeks), duration of the first intervention (weeks), and the likelihood of having a sibling involved in child protection. Participants and setting: Dutch population-level administrative data were used. Children of parents with ID (cases) were 1:1 matched with controls. The following samples were used: N = 4526 cases in child protection; N = 3200 cases in youth services with child protection; N = 318 cases in youth services without child protection. Methods: Linear and logistic regression models were used. Findings: Children of parents with ID were younger at entry into child protection (B = −176.76, [-187.68; −165.83]), youth services with child protection (B = −152.73, [-165.97; −139.48]), and youth services without child protection (B = −143.10, [-188.72; −97.47]), and they had longer initial child protection interventions (B = 34.68, [25.94; 43.42]). Further, these children were more likely to have a sibling in child protection (OR 1.28, [1.18; 1.40]), youth services with child protection (OR 1.14, [1.02; 1.27]), and youth services without child protection (OR 69.23, [30.84; 198.00]). Conclusion: Children of parents with ID enter child protection and youth services at younger ages and for longer periods, more often accompanied by a sibling. This study highlights the need to investigate contextual factors contributing to this differential treatment.
format Article
id doaj-art-a9aa9f2ada36451ea4f2b0bbec00b416
institution OA Journals
issn 2950-1938
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Child Protection and Practice
spelling doaj-art-a9aa9f2ada36451ea4f2b0bbec00b4162025-08-20T02:07:31ZengElsevierChild Protection and Practice2950-19382025-07-01510014210.1016/j.chipro.2025.100142Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control studyLianne Bakkum0Carlo Schuengel1Corresponding author. Department of Educational and Family Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.; Department of Educational and Family Sciences & Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the NetherlandsDepartment of Educational and Family Sciences & Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the NetherlandsBackground: It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories. Objective: Children of parents with and without ID were compared on the following characteristics of care: age at entry (weeks), duration of the first intervention (weeks), and the likelihood of having a sibling involved in child protection. Participants and setting: Dutch population-level administrative data were used. Children of parents with ID (cases) were 1:1 matched with controls. The following samples were used: N = 4526 cases in child protection; N = 3200 cases in youth services with child protection; N = 318 cases in youth services without child protection. Methods: Linear and logistic regression models were used. Findings: Children of parents with ID were younger at entry into child protection (B = −176.76, [-187.68; −165.83]), youth services with child protection (B = −152.73, [-165.97; −139.48]), and youth services without child protection (B = −143.10, [-188.72; −97.47]), and they had longer initial child protection interventions (B = 34.68, [25.94; 43.42]). Further, these children were more likely to have a sibling in child protection (OR 1.28, [1.18; 1.40]), youth services with child protection (OR 1.14, [1.02; 1.27]), and youth services without child protection (OR 69.23, [30.84; 198.00]). Conclusion: Children of parents with ID enter child protection and youth services at younger ages and for longer periods, more often accompanied by a sibling. This study highlights the need to investigate contextual factors contributing to this differential treatment.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S295019382500049XChild welfareChild protectionIntellectual disabilityParentingAdministrative data
spellingShingle Lianne Bakkum
Carlo Schuengel
Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
Child Protection and Practice
Child welfare
Child protection
Intellectual disability
Parenting
Administrative data
title Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
title_full Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
title_fullStr Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
title_full_unstemmed Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
title_short Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study
title_sort age at entry into the dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability a case control study
topic Child welfare
Child protection
Intellectual disability
Parenting
Administrative data
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S295019382500049X
work_keys_str_mv AT liannebakkum ageatentryintothedutchchildprotectionsystemofchildrenofparentswithintellectualdisabilityacasecontrolstudy
AT carloschuengel ageatentryintothedutchchildprotectionsystemofchildrenofparentswithintellectualdisabilityacasecontrolstudy