Social support in child abuse and neglect: Support functions, sources, and contexts

Objectives: The objective of the present paper was to examine the social support functions, sources and temporal contexts of Argentinian mothers in relation to child abuse and neglect. Method: To test the impact of social support on child abuse and neglect, a sample of 101 Argentinian mothers was drawn from the pediatric hospital. The interview contained questions regarding maternal social support and abusive behavior. After the interview, the medical record of the child was checked for information concerning child abuse and neglect. Results: Data from the interview and the medical record were used to characterize the mothers as low or high in child abuse and neglect. Conclusions: Comparisons between both groups of mothers indicated that only some specific support indexes distinguished mothers with low and high abuse/neglect. Specifically, kin and instrumental support indexes were associated with child abuse/neglect, whereas nonkin and psychological support variables were not.