Using Child Services: The Importance of the Mother-Child Relationship and Maternal Social Support

• Published in: Journal of social service research 2019-05, Vol.45 (3), p.418-428
• Main Authors: Wiles, Brooke, Cooper, Ashley N, McWey, Lenore M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attachment; Attachment theory; Child outcomes; child services; Children; Clinical medicine; Interpersonal relations; Mother-child relations; mother-child relationship; Mothers; Parent-child relations; Power; Quality; service utilization; Social support
• ISSN: 0148-8376; 1540-7314
• DOI: 10.1080/01488376.2018.1480567

Gaps between children's need for clinical services and receipt of services create a risk for negative child outcomes, therefore, it is important to identify factors that bolster parental use of child services. Attachment theory lends support to potential power of both parent-child relationship quality and the social support received by the parent in promoting service utilization and ultimately child outcomes. Study 1 uses a sample of 8-year-old children and their mothers to examine the roles of service use as a mechanism linking maternal social support and child behavioral outcomes. Study 2 uses a sample of 12-year-olds and mothers to more closely examine deficits between service need and the role of mother-child relationship quality in explaining the link between maternal social support and service deficits. Overall, this study highlights the importance of maternal social support and the parent-child relationship in predicting child service utilization, with nuanced results.