Detection of children at risk of maltreatment: longitudinal understanding of teachers’ concern for children’s home situation in Sweden

Figures & data

Table 1. Distribution of teacher-rated grade of CHS from 1-year follow-up (preschool) to 5-year follow-up (3rd grade of elementary school).

	No concern	Temporary CHS, preschool	Temporary CHS, school	Prolonged CHS	P Anova
Total n (%)	1479 (82.3)	175 (9.7)	83 (4.6)	59 (3.3)
1-year follow-up: Grade of concern, mean (sd) (range = 1–5)	–	1.82 (0.85)	–	2.27 (1.19)	<0.001
5-year follow-up: Grade of concern, mean (sd) (range = 1–5)	–	–	2.34 (0.77)	2.90 (1.24)	<0.001

Table 2. Person-, process- and context-related factors at 1- and 5-year follow up in relation to CHS.

	No CHS n (%)	Temporary CHS, preschool n (%)	Temporary CHS, school n (%)	Prolonged CHS n (%)	P chi2
Person — demographic
Gender					<0.001
Girls, n: 848	727 (49.2)	75 (42.9)	32 (38.6)	14 (23.7)
Boys, n: 948	752 (50.8)	100 (57.1)	51 (61.4)	45 (76.3)
Disability/diagnosis status
1-yr follow-up Disability n = 105	81 (5.6)	12 (7.1)	6 (7.4)	6 (10.4)	ns
5-yr follow-up Disability n = 139	91 (6.2)	26 (14.9)	11 (13.4)	11 (19.6)	<0.001
Person — Force
Concern for child’s health and development
Learning
1-yr follow-up	48 (3.3)	26 (15)	8 (9.6)	13 (22)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	106 (7.2)	20 (11.4)	25 (30.1)	30 (50.8)	<0.001
Mental health
1-yr follow-up	18 (1.2)	21 (12.1)	0	7 (11.9)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	27 (1.8)	9 (5.2)	21 (25.3)	22 (37.3)	<0.001
Social development
1-yr follow-up	75 (5.1)	53 (30.3)	7 (8.4)	13 (22)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	60 (4.1)	20 (11.4)	27 (32.5)	28 (47.5)	<0.001
Behavior
1-yr follow-up	42 (2.8)	40 (22.9)	5 (6)	12 (20.3)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	52 (3.5)	15 (8.6)	20 (24.4)	27 (45.8)	<0.001
Sum score m (sd) range 4–20
1-yr follow-up^1	4.67^bcd (1.60)	7.06^ac (3.72)	5.32^abd (2.65)	7.27^ac (2.82)	<0.001*
5-yr follow-up^1	4.83^bcd (1.75)	5.75^acd (2.89)	8.37^abd (3.91)	10.61^abc (4.83)	<0.001*
School performance (5-yr follow-up, 8–10 yr)
Failure to meet requirements in Mathematics	48 (3.2)	9 (5.1)	13 (15.7)	15 (25.9)	<0.001
Failure to meet requirements in Swedish	88 (6.0)	16 (9.1)	17 (20.5)	20 (33.9)	<0.001
Failure to meet requirements in Mathematics and Swedish	36 (2.4)	6 (3.4)	9 (10.8)	12 (20.7)	<0.001
Process
Poor relationship with peers
1-yr follow-up	112 (7.6)	50 (28.7)	9 (10.8)	13 (22.0)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	98 (6.6)	25 (14.3)	21 (25.3)	25 (42.4)	<0.001
Poor school attachment
1-yr follow-up	434 (29.4)	81 (46.3)	30 (36.6)	23 (39)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	422 (28.6)	77 (44)	56 (67.5)	42 (71.2)	<0.001
Context:
Poor teacher – parent contact
1-yr follow-up	41 (2.8)	38 (21.8)	6 (7.2)	25 (42.4)	<0.001
5-yr follow-up	27 (1.8)	4 (2.3)	18 (21.7)	24 (41.4)	<0.001
Parental income level at baseline
Mean parental income level (95% CI) (min 1, max 6)^1	3.48^bcd (0.87)	3.07^a (1.03)	2.99^a (1.02)	2.73^a (0.68)	<0.001*
Parental education level at baseline
Mean educational level parent 1 (95% CI) (min 1, max 3) ^1	2.57^bcd (0.54)	2.36^ad (0.67)	2.33^ad (0.60)	2.0^abc (0.53)	<0.001*
Parental country of birth at baseline
One or both parents born outside Sweden n = 297	217 (15.1)	54 (32.5)	14 (18.4)	12 (24.5)	<0.001

Note. ¹Means with different subscripts (a = no concern; b = temporary concern preschool; c = temporary concern school; d = prolonged concern) were significantly different in post hoc comparisons. Significant values after applying the Bonferroni correction (p < 0.001).

Table 3. Multinomial logistic regressions with temporary CHS in preschool, temporary CHS in school, and prolonged CHS and person, process, and context related predictors at 1- and 5-year follow-up.

	Fully adjusted models using 1-yr follow up (4–6 yr)			Fully adjusted models using 5-yr follow up (8–10 yr)
	Temporary CHS, preschool OR (CI)	Temporary CHS, school OR (CI)	Prolonged CHS OR (CI)	Temporary CHS, preschool OR (CI)	Temporary CHS, school OR (CI)	Prolonged CHS OR (CI)
Person
Gender (1: boy)	1.08 (0.71–1.65)	1.13 (0.67–1.89)	3.09 (1.19–7.99)	1.27 (0.85–1.90)	0.74 (0.42–1.31)	1.25 (0.44–3.54)
Teachers concern child´s health and development	1.33 (1.21–1.46)	1.23 (1.08–1.40)	1.20 (1.02–1.42)	1.15 (1.03–1.27)	1.35 (1.21–1.51)	1.43 (1.23–1.67)
Disability/diagnosis (1: diagnosed disability or chronic illness)	0.92 (0.39–2.19)	1.35 (0.51–3.60)	0.87 (0.11–1.04)	2.20 (1.22–3.97)	1.12 (0.45–2.80)	1.37 (0.36–5.22)
School performance (failure to meet requirements in Mathematics and/or Swedish)				0.76 (0.44–1.31)	1.23 (0.73–2.07)	1.61 (0.78–3.33)
Process
Poor peer relationships	1.10 (0.77–1.56)	0.76 (0.47–1.22)	1.27 (0.66–2.44)	1.15 (0.82–1.61)	1.18 (0.76–1.83)	0.94 (0.47–1.88)
Poor school attachment	1.07 (0.71–1.62)	1.04 (0.60–1.81)	0.39 (0.16–0.98)	1.21 (0.81–1.79)	1.29 (0.80–2.09)	1.50 (0.73–3.06)
Context
Poor teacher – parent contact	2.09 (1.52–2.87)	1.29 (0.84–1.99)	4.82 (2.72–8.57)	1.16 (0.82–1.65)	2.99 (1.96–4.56)	5.26 (2.79–9.90)
Baseline: Parental income	0.73 (0.57–0.93)	0.56 (0.41–0.77)	0.52 (0.32–0.86)	0.73 (0.58–0.92)	0.72 (0.52–0.98)	0.63 (0.36–1.09)
Baseline: Education level (1: elementary school)	0.75 (0.52–1.09)	0.68 (0.43–1.08)	0.40 (0.20–0.78)	0.83 (0.58–1.17)	0.65 (0.40–1.05)	0.39 (0.18–0.87)
Baseline: Country of birth (1: having one or both parents born outside Sweden)	2.29 (1.44–3.66)	0.92 (0.47–1.83)	0.58 (0.19–1.77)	2.57 (1.67–3.96)	0.97 (0.47–2.04)	0.46 (0.11–1.86)
Nagelkerke	0.22			0.27

Note: Continuous measures for all variables except gender, diagnosis, and country of birth.