1. Introduction
In the US child maltreatment is common and costly; almost 40% of children in a 2011 survey reported experiencing maltreatment by adulthood (Finkelhor et al., 2013). Maltreatment is most prevalent among young children: in 2019, about 40% of victims of child maltreatment were between the ages of zero and four (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2021). Victims of child maltreatment have lower levels of educational achievement, lower rates of employment, lower earnings, fewer assets, an increased risk of substance abuse, and are more likely to engage in crime and be incarcerated later in life (Currie and Tekin, 2012; Currie and Spatz Widom, 2010; Cicchetti and Handley, 2019; Eckenrode et al., 1993; Lansford et al., 2002; Mersky and Topitzes, 2010; Widom, 1989; Zielinski, 2009). Fang et al. (2012)estimate an average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment of over $200,000 (2010 USD).
Assessing risk factors for child maltreatment to inform prevention e↵orts is a national research priority (O ce of the US Surgeon General, 2005). A large literature in public health and sociology identifies a range of factors correlated with child maltreatment including poverty, parental mental health, and parental substance abuse, among others. Recent contributions to this literature speak to the potential impacts of climate change on child maltreatment by exploring links between natural disasters and child maltreatment, and exposure to extreme temperatures and child maltreatment. Curtis et al. (2000)and Keenan et al. (2004)find increased reports of child abuse and incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury, respectively, following natural disasters. Gruenberg et al. (2019)conduct a retrospective chart review of pediatric emergency department admissions and document a correlation between heat and admissions related to child abuse. Using similar research methods, Mehta et al. (2022) find no evidence of disproportionate increases in abusive head trauma with higher temperatures.
Motivated by findings in physiology and psychology, a growing literature in economics identifies several channels through which extreme temperatures might a↵ect actual and/or observed child maltreatment. First, extreme temperatures may make adults more aggressive or children more restless through physiological channels (Hsiang et al., 2013; Ranson, 2014; Heilmann et al., 2021; Baylis, 2020; McCormack, 2023). Second, extreme temperatures may a↵ect time use for children and adults (Gra↵ Zivin and Neidell, 2014). Changes in time use may result in adults and children spending more time together in confined spaces, perhaps leading to increased parental stress; or may change the likelihood of maltreatment being witnessed and reported. Third, heat reduces cognitive function and adversely impacts mental health (Taylor et al., 2016; Gra↵ Zivin et al., 2018; Park, 2022; Park et al., 2020; Mullins and White, 2019), which may alter parental decision making. Finally, for some parental actions, hot temperatures can create an environment in which a child is at increased risk of harm compared to more moderate temperatures (e.g., leaving a child alone at home or in a car).
2. Background
2.1 Defining and measuring child maltreatment
Child maltreatment refers to all types of abuse and neglect of children under age 18 by an adult serving in a custodial role (e.g., parent, caregiver, coach, clergy). In the US, federal legislation, state civil statutes, and state criminal statutes provide formal definitions of child maltreatment. At the federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (42 U.S.C.A. ˆ A§ 5106g), originally enacted in 1974, identifies a set of acts that constitute child maltreatment:
at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.
CAPTA provides guidance and funding to states to support their e↵orts related to child maltreatment including prevention and response, among other activities. The Act has been amended and reauthorized several times. Definitions of child maltreatment in state civil statutes permit intervention by state CPS agencies while criminal statutes provide grounds for arrest and prosecution of offenders.
Child maltreatment is most prevalent among children under age one and 25% of child maltreatment victims are under age three (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2022). Victimization rates are higher among American-Indian and Alaska Native children, and among Black children compared to children of other races and ethnicities. Most victims of child maltreatment, about 70% in 2019, are first-time victims (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2021).
Most states recognize four types of child maltreatment: physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse/exploitation and emotional abuse. Specific definitions of child maltreatment within these categories vary across states. Among types of child maltreatment, neglect is the most complex and most common, accounting for over three-fourths of confirmed cases of child maltreatment in the US in 2020 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2021). Broadly, neglect occurs when the omission of care by a parent or caregiver places a child at risk of serious harm. As with child maltreatment more generally, state statutes vary in their definitions of neglect (US Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, 2018). The most commonly recognized categories of neglect include physical neglect (e.g., failure to provide basic needs like nutrition or hygiene); medical neglect (e.g., failure to provide adequate medical care); emotional neglect (e.g., failure to provide emotional support, exposing a child to intimate partner violence or substance use); inadequate supervision (e.g., leaving young children home alone, leaving children with inappropriate caregivers); and educational neglect (e.g., failure to enroll a child, chronic absenteeism). A finding of neglect can result from a single incident of the above (e.g., leaving a young child alone in a car). In other cases, neglect is chronic, resulting from a caregiver repeatedly failing to meet a child’s basic physical, developmental, and/or emotional needs over a period of time (US Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, 2019b).
The determination that a child is a victim of maltreatment begins with a referral of suspected child maltreatment to a CPS agency. CPS referrals come from various sources including non-professionals (e.g., neighbors, family members) and professionals with whom children interact (e.g., teachers, physicians). All states have mandatory reporting laws related to child maltreatment; as of 2019, 47 states have laws that identify specific professionals as mandatory reporters (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2019). Most frequently these include social workers, healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, and educational and childcare personnel. Once received, CPS evaluates whether or not the referral meets agency criteria for an investigation or alternative response (e.g., provision of services). If so, then the referral is “screened in.”4 In 2019, about 54% of CPS referrals were screened in. Once a referral is screened in, it is referred to as a report. In 2019, almost 70% of reports were submitted by professional sources (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2021). After investigation by the CPS agency, the report receives a disposition. If the report disposition finds that the alleged maltreatment is substantiated or indicated, then the child or children on the report are considered to be victims of child maltreatment.