Chloe's abusers were her parents. Her father had recently lost his job and her mother was not working. Which stress factor likely contributed to the abuse?

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Child mistreatment "is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under the age of 18" (WHO, 2016, para. 2). Worldwide, it is estimated that 22.6% of children under the age of 18 have experienced physical abuse, 36.3%, emotional abuse, and 16.3%, physical neglect (WHO, 2014a). In the United States in 2012, out of 1,000 children under age 18, 9.2 were reported victims of child maltreatment. This same year it is estimated that 2.2 children per 100,000 died of abuse. For these children, maltreatment was evident in several forms, including neglect (70%) and physical abuse (44%), with some children also having experienced another form of or a combination of other maltreatment. Overall, girls are at slightly higher risk for child maltreatment than boys. The highest rate of child maltreatment is for children from birth to 3 years of age, and the rates decline as children get older. In most cases, the perpetrator of child abuse is a family member. In 80% of the cases, the parents were the abusers; in 10% of the cases, they were other relatives; and in 4%, they were unmarried partners of a parent (CDC, 2014). Child abuse can be found in all socioeconomic groups, and family stress, particularly economic stress, is a major determinant in abuse. Children who are abused often become abusive parents themselves and also have a higher likelihood of committing other violent acts (Christoffel & Gallagher, 2006).

Chloe's Abusers Were Her Parents