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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2015 Nov 1;106(Suppl 7):eS21–eS30. doi: 10.17269/CJPH.106.4833

Spatial Relationships between Neighbourhood Characteristics and Rates of Children from Ethnocultural Communities Reported to Child Protective Services

Relations spatiales entre les caractéristiques des territoires et les taux d’enfants de groupes ethnoculturels signalés à la protection de la jeunesse

Sarah Dufour 13,✉, Chantal Lavergne 23, Yuddy Ramos 33
PMCID: PMC6972225  PMID: 26978696

Abstract

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to 1) map the spatial distribution of rates of children reported to Montreal child protective services by ethnocultural group (Black, other visible minorities, not from visible minorities) and (2) estimate the relative contribution of different neighbourhood characteristics to the rates for those groups.

Method

The study covered the 505 Montreal-area census tracts for which complete data were available. The rates of children reported by group (dependent variables) and various territorial characteristics such as poverty (independent variables) were mapped and subjected to multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression. The results of the geographically weighted regression were then mapped.

Results

The geographic distribution and rates of children reported varied greatly by group, with the Black children having the highest rates. Although neighbourhood characteristics explained 51% of variance for the children who were not members of visible minorities, they were clearly less effective in predicting rates in the case of Black children (18%) and other minorities (18%).

Conclusion

Already well-known neighbourhood risk factors are at work in Montreal, but their influence is not equally strong in all census tracts nor, especially, in all ethnocultural groups. Therefore, when only the distribution and prediction of reports for all children as a whole are examined, important differences are underestimated. Access to and appropriateness of services offered to vulnerable families, including those of visible minorities, could, however, be improved with a better understanding of local dynamics.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.17269/CJPH.106.4833 and is accessible for authorized users.

Keywords: child abuse, domestic violence, geographic mapping, risk factors, epidemiology

Electronic supplementary material

41997_2015_10607021_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (822.6KB, pdf)

Supplementary material, approximately 842 KB.

Footnotes

Funding

This research was made possible in part thanks to support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The translation was made possible in part by funding from the CJM-IU.

Conflict of Interests

None to declare.

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41997_2015_10607021_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (822.6KB, pdf)

Supplementary material, approximately 842 KB.

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