Child Abuse & Neglect, 2019, 93: 239-248

Background: Effective prevention of child abuse depends on an understanding of factors asso-ciated with the abuse. Increased risk of child sexual abuse has been associated with parental substance use and adverse socio-economic factors such as living in poverty and parental unemployment. This study investigated overcrowding as a potential socio-economic risk factor in child sexual abuse taking into account other socio-economic, child and parental factors.

Method: This study used de-identified linked data from health and child protection data collections for the cohort of children born in Western Australia from 1990 to 2009 (n = 524,478). Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted and unadjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for time to first sexual abuse allegation and first substantiated allegation, relative to thelevel of overcrowding and controlling for other risk factors.Results:Higher levels of household overcrowding were associated with a 23%–46% increase inthe risk of child sexual abuse allegations. Only the highest level of overcrowding was associatedwith a 40% increased risk of substantiated sexual abuse.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that overcrowded living conditions are associated with an in-creased risk of sexual abuse for some children. This factor needs to be considered alongside other risk factors when assessing and improving child safety. (Authors' abstract). Record #6289