NCJ Number
207754
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2004 Pages: 371-381
Date Published
November 2004
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated a brief, self-report measure of parental neglectful behaviors called the Mother-Child Neglect Scale (MCNS).
Abstract
Child neglect is a poorly understood form of child maltreatment, yet is one of the most prevalent forms of maltreatment. The current study sought to facilitate research on neglect by evaluating the MCNS, which was modified from the Neglect Scale (NS). Participants were 100 mother-child dyads who took part in a longitudinal study examining the development of adolescent mothers and their first-born children. For this study, participating mothers were evaluated using the MCNS when their first children were ages 3 and 5 years. Data were collected on history of abuse, social desirability, neglectful behavior, mother-child interactions, and child abuse potential. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity of the MCNS were tested. Results indicated that the MCNS has satisfactory reliability and validity in terms of measuring past neglectful behavior. The strength of the MCNS is that it is a continuum measure that probes a range of parenting behaviors, some of which could indicate child neglect. Future research should focus on testing the reliability and validity of the MCNS in measuring concurrent neglectful behaviors. Tables, appendixes, references