Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Zhou, Yueqin Author's Email Address yueqinz@yahoo.com URN etd-11282006-091456 Title Spatial Analysis of Substantiated Child Maltreatment in Metro Atlanta, Georgia Degree Master of Arts Department Geosciences Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Dr. Jeremy Crampton Committee Chair Dr. Jeremy Diem Committee Member Dr. Michael Eriksen Committee Member Ms. Elaine Hallisey Committee Member Keywords
- ecological theory
- spatial autocorrelation
- young children
- emotional abuse
- physical abuse
- neglect
- substantiated child maltreatment
- spatial regression
Date of Defense 2006-11-14 Availability unrestricted Abstract Identifying high-risk areas for child maltreatment to ultimately aid public health agencies for interventions is necessary for protecting children at high risk. Rates of substantiated neglect and physical/emotional abuse in 2000-2002 are computed for the census tracts in the urban area of five counties in Metro Atlanta, Georgia, and analyzed using spatial regression to determine their relationships with twelve risk variables computed from the Vital Records births and the 2000 Census data.After accounting for multicollinearity among risk variables and spatial autocorrelation among observations for neighboring locations, it is found that high percentages of (1) births to non-married mothers, (2) births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy, (3) unemployed males and females, and (4) single-parent families with children under age six best predict the rates of substantiated neglect, and that high percentage of births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy best predicts the rates of substantiated physical/emotional abuse.
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