{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T17:17:42Z","timestamp":1777915062310,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777593600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of New Mexico Office of the Vice President for Research under the WeR1 Faculty Success Program, Research Allocations Committee","award":["#8oh6a4x35h"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#8oh6a4x35h"]}]},{"name":"University of New Mexico Office of the Vice President for Research under the WeR1 Faculty Success Program, Research Allocations Committee","award":["#gvvrxwyj64"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#gvvrxwyj64"]}]},{"name":"Grand Challenge Level 1 and Level 2 programs"},{"name":"FRESSH Pilot Program"},{"name":"University of New Mexico, A&S Interdisciplinary Science Cooperative through the Office of Research","award":["#TA-1003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#TA-1003"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sentiment expressions related to child maltreatment (CM) in public discourse are influenced by demographic, economic, and cultural factors and individual characteristics. Using 188,429 geotagged CM-related tweets during 2018\u20132022, we explored public sentiment expression about CM across the contiguous U.S. We applied multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to examine how contextual factors relate to the percentage of CM-related tweets with negative sentiment at the county level, revealing the spatial heterogeneity and varying geographic scales of these associations. Counties with higher male-to-female ratios and lower education levels tended to express negative sentiment in CM-related tweets, with consistent patterns observed nationwide. Five factors exhibited spatially varying associations by U.S. region, with higher levels of negative sentiment in the following contexts: a lower percentage of residents living in group quarters or a higher percentage of same-sex couples (Eastern and Central); fewer households lacking broadband access (Central); a higher percentage of single-parent households (New England and Southern Mississippi River); and areas where professionals are mandated to report CM (Great Lakes and Southern Appalachian Mountains). This study provides critical insights for policymakers to adjust policies, educators to design focused interventions, and the public to raise CM awareness. The methodology also provides a valuable framework for investigating public discourse on other social issues.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi15050195","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T16:54:07Z","timestamp":1777654447000},"page":"195","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Do We Care Enough About Child Maltreatment?\u2014Analyzing Social Media Discourse on Child Maltreatment in the United States"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7899-6213","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xi","family":"Gong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"},{"name":"Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yujian","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA"},{"name":"UNM Center for the Advancement of Spatial Informatics Research and Education (ASPIRE), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rebecca A.","family":"Girardet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hannah M. C.","family":"Schreier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8938-5466","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhenlong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6279-7463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Theresa H.","family":"Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA"},{"name":"University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"},{"name":"Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2023, August 11). 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