Child protection contact, emotional well-being and school engagement among CALD and non-CALD children: a whole-population linked data study

Child maltreatment is a preventable risk factor for psychiatric disorders and poor social emotional well-being. In Australia, children of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background experience lower child protection (CP) contact compared to non-CALD children. This study describes the risk for low well-being at age 9/10 (school year 4) and 11/12 years (school year 6) among CALD and non-CALD children. The study included children born in South Australia in 2008 and 2009 who started formal education in a government school in 2013 and 2014 respectively (N=21 384). The Well-being and Engagement Collection (WEC) data were collected in 2017-2019 for Year 4 and 2019-2021 for Year 6. CP contact was recorded from birth up to age 8 years. Well-being outcomes (subdomains) were emotional well-being (‘happiness’, ‘optimism’, ‘sadness’, ‘worry’), engagement with school (‘emotional engagement with teachers’, ‘peer belonging’), learning readiness (‘perseverance’, ‘cognitive engagement’, ‘academic self-concept’), and health and well-being out of school (‘overall health’). Children were categorized by the highest level of CP contact experienced by age 8 years as no CP contact, notification only, screened in but not investigated, investigated but not substantiated, and substantiated and/or placed in out-of-home-care (OOHC). Non-CALD children with CP contact by age 8 years were more likely to report low well-being than CALD children, at ages 9/10 and 11/12, and the proportion of children reporting low well-being increased with higher levels of CP contact in both groups. This was particularly observed in the domain of emotional well-being in and learning readiness at ages 11/12. The burden of low well-being at ages 9/10 and 11/12 years is lower in CALD children compared to non-CALD with similar CP contact experiences from birth up to age 8 years. • Australian Children of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background have lower child protection (CP) contact than non-CALD children. • Among children with CP contact up to age 8, CALD children were less likely to report low well-being compared to non-CALD peers at 9/10 and 11/12 years. • Disparity in low well-being between CALD and non-CALD children with CP contact were mainly observed in emotional well-being and learning readiness. • Further research to understand resilience in CALD children may inform school level programs to support the well-being of all children with CP contact history.