The Interactive Effects of Parental Psychological Factors and Community Environmental Factors on Child Neglect In South Korea

Background/Purpose: Child neglect remains one of the most critical yet underreported forms of child maltreatment. In South Korea, the 2023 National Child Survey revealed a stark discrepancy: while official statistics recorded only 0.03% of children as neglect victims, parental self-reports indicated a rate of 26.5%, underscoring the structural invisibility of neglect. Despite its severity — including long-term developmental harm, internalized behavioral problems, and in extreme cases, child fatality — neglect has received comparatively less scholarly and policy attention. This study investigates how parental psychological risk factors and community-level environmental protective factors independently and interactively influence child neglect among school-age children in South Korea. Three research questions were addressed: (1) Do parental psychological factors (depression, parenting stress, parenting efficacy) significantly predict child neglect? (2) Do community environmental factors (neighborhood accessibility, community participation) significantly predict child neglect? (3) Do community environmental factors moderate the relationship between parental psychological factors and child neglect?

Methods: This study utilized data from the 2023 National Survey on the Status of Children in Korea, a nationally representative survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare across 5,753 households. The analytic sample was restricted to 2,226 households with school-age children between the ages of 6 and 11, a developmental period during which adult supervision and structured caregiving remain essential. Parental psychological factors were measured using three validated instruments: depression (11 items), parenting stress (11 items), and parenting efficacy (9 items). Community environmental factors included neighborhood accessibility (8 items assessing proximity to welfare, medical, educational, and recreational facilities) and community participation (4 items measuring engagement in local activities and online community networks). Child neglect was operationalized as a binary outcome (6 items), distinguishing between those with and without neglect experience in the past year. Hierarchical binary logistic regression was employed.

Results: Parental depression and parenting stress also emerged as significant risk factors, whereas parenting efficacy served as a protective factor, reducing the probability of neglect. Higher levels of community participation were unexpectedly linked to increased neglect risk, possibly due to reduced time available for direct caregiving. In addition, the interaction between parenting efficacy and community participation was statistically significant and negative. No significant moderating effect was observed for neighborhood accessibility.

Conclusions and Implications: The most substantive finding of this study is the synergistic protective effect observed when high parenting efficacy is combined with active community participation. This suggests that relational engagement and social connectedness are more consequential for neglect prevention than the mere physical availability of community infrastructure. These results carry important implications for both policy and practice. First, neglect prevention programs should prioritize parental empowerment and efficacy-building interventions — such as strengths-based parent education and peer support groups — rather than focusing exclusively on psychological symptom reduction. Second, community-based initiatives should foster meaningful participation opportunities that reinforce parents' sense of competence and social belonging. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to track how changes in parenting efficacy and community engagement jointly affect neglect trajectories over time.