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Abstract Child maltreatment incurs a high lifetime cost per victim and creates a substantial US population economic burden. This study aimed to use the most recent data and recommended methods to update previous (2008) estimates of 1) the per-victim lifetime cost, and 2) the annual US population economic burden of child maltreatment. Three ways to update the previous estimates were identified: 1) apply value per statistical life methodology to value child maltreatment mortality, 2) apply monetized quality-adjusted life years methodology to value child maltreatment morbidity, and 3) apply updated estimates of the exposed population. As with the previous estimates, the updated estimates used the societal cost perspective and lifetime horizon, but also accounted for victim and community intangible costs. Updated methods increased the estimated nonfatal child maltreatment per-victim lifetime cost from $210,012 (2010 USD) to $830,928 (2015 USD) and increased the fatal per-victim cost from $1.3 to $16.6 million. The estimated US population economic burden of child maltreatment based on 2015 substantiated incident cases (482,000 nonfatal and 1670 fatal victims) was $428 billion, representing lifetime costs incurred annually. Using estimated incidence of investigated annual incident cases (2,368,000 nonfatal and 1670 fatal victims), the estimated economic burden was $2 trillion. Accounting for victim and community intangible costs increased the estimated cost of child maltreatment considerably compared to previous estimates. The economic burden of child maltreatment is substantial and might off-set the cost of evidence-based interventions that reduce child maltreatment incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For the past 20 years, the Ontario child welfare sector has made significant legislative and policy changes. Changes to legislation and policy can impact the public and sector's response to child maltreatment and inform identified trends. Using an investigative taxonomy of urgent protection and chronic need this paper examines the shift in the nature of investigated maltreatment over time. Methods: Data from five cycles of the Ontario Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013) were used. Provincial incidence rates were calculated by dividing the weighted estimates by the child population 15 years of age and under and then multiplying by 1000 in order to produce an annual incidence rate per 1000 children. Investigations were divided into urgent (severe physical harm, sexual abuse, neglect and physical abuse of children under 4) and chronic (risk only, exposure to intimate partner violence, emotional maltreatment, neglect and physical abuse of children four or over). Tests of statistical significance were calculated to assess changes in subtypes between cycles. Results: Between 1993 and 2013, the rate of child maltreatment related investigations completed in Ontario has increased from 20.48 per 1000 children to 53.27 per 1000 children. Overall there has been a decline in the incidence of urgent investigations from 9.31 per 1000 child maltreatment investigations in 1993 to 5.94 per 1000 maltreatment investigations in 2013. There has been a fourfold increase in the incidence of chronic investigations from 11.18 per 1000 child maltreatment investigations in 1993 to 47.33 per 1000 maltreatment investigations in 2013. Conclusion: The nature of child protection work using the urgent-chronic taxonomy shows a dramatic shift in the types of concerns identified without a corresponding shift in the way families are assessed for need. The provision of a forensic investigation to all families does not distinguish between urgent safety concerns and needs that may require prolonged engagement. Effective service provision requires more precision in our response to these diverse concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To document ethnic disparities in childhood abuse and neglect among New Zealand children. Methods. We followed the 1998 New Zealand birth cohort of 56 904 children through 2016. We determined the cumulative childhood prevalence of reports to child protective services (CPS), substantiated maltreatment (by subtype), and out-of-home placements, from birth to age 18 years, by ethnic group. We also developed estimates stratified by maternal age and community deprivation levels. Results. We identified substantial ethnic differences in child maltreatment and child protection involvement. Both Māori and Pacific Islander children had a far greater likelihood of being reported to CPS, being substantiated as victims, and experiencing an out-of-home placement than other children. Across all levels of CPS interactions, rates of Māori involvement were more than twice those of Pacific Islander children and more than 3 times those of European children. Conclusions. Despite long-standing child support policies and reparation for breaches of Indigenous people's rights, significant child maltreatment disparities persist. More work is needed to understand how New Zealand's public benefit services can be more responsive to the needs of Indigenous families and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the validity and reliability of a multi-informant approach to measuring child maltreatment (CM) comprising seven questions assessing CM administered to children and their parents in a large community sample. Methods: Our sample comprised 2,512 children aged 6 to 12 years and their parents. Child maltreatment (CM) was assessed with three questions answered by the children and four answered by their parents, covering physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit indices of different models. Convergent and divergent validity were tested using parent-report and teacher-report scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Discriminant validity was investigated using the Development and Well-Being Assessment to divide subjects into five diagnostic groups: typically developing controls (n = 1,880), fear disorders (n = 108), distress disorders (n = 76), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 143) and oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (n = 56). Results: A higher-order model with one higher-order factor (child maltreatment) encompassing two lower-order factors (child report and parent report) exhibited the best fit to the data and this model's reliability results were acceptable. As expected, child maltreatment was positively associated with measures of psychopathology and negatively associated with prosocial measures. All diagnostic category groups had higher levels of overall child maltreatment than typically developing children. Conclusions: We found evidence for the validity and reliability of this brief measure of child maltreatment using data from a large survey combining information from parents and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of child maltreatment in Suriname has never been subjected to a reliable assessment. The only data available include rough estimates of a range of internationally comparable indicators extrapolated from child protection and police corps statistics for offenses against children. This study aimed to provide a reliable estimate of the prevalence of all forms of child maltreatment in Suriname. One thousand three hundred and ninety-one (1,391) adolescents and young adults of different ethnicities completed a questionnaire about child maltreatment. The study sample, obtained by random probability sampling, consisted of students (ages 12 through 22) from five districts in Suriname. A significant proportion of Surinamese children experienced maltreatment. In total, 86.8% of adolescents and 95.8% of young adults reported having been exposed to at least one form of child maltreatment during their lives. Among the adolescents, 57.1% were exposed to child maltreatment in the past year. When the definition of the National Incidence Study was applied, 58.2% of adolescents and 68.8% of young adults had been exposed to at least one form of maltreatment. Among adolescents, 36.8% reported having experienced at least one form of maltreatment in the past year. The results indicate the (extremely) high lifetime and year prevalence of child maltreatment in Suriname. The serious and often lifelong consequences of such maltreatment indicate that a national approach to child abuse and neglect, including the development of a national strategic plan, a national surveillance system and changes to the state's programmatic and policy response, is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although frustration has long been implicated in promoting aggression, the potential for poor frustration tolerance to function as a risk factor for physical child abuse risk has received minimal attention. Instead, much of the extant literature has examined the role of anger in physical abuse risk, relying on self-reports of the experience or expression of anger, despite the fact that this methodology is often acknowledged as vulnerable to bias. Therefore, the present investigation examined whether a more implicit, analog assessment of frustration tolerance specifically relevant to parenting would reveal an association with various markers of elevated physical child abuse risk in a series of samples that varied with regard to age, parenting status, and abuse risk. An analog task was designed to evoke parenting-relevant frustration: the task involved completing an unsolvable task while listening to a crying baby or a toddler's temper tantrum; time scores were generated to gauge participants’ persistence in the task when encountering such frustration. Across these studies, low frustration tolerance was associated with increased physical child abuse potential, greater use of parent–child aggression in discipline encounters, dysfunctional disciplinary style, support for physical discipline use and physical discipline escalation, and increased heart rate. Future research directions that could better inform intervention and prevention programs are discussed, including working to clarify the processes underlying frustration intolerance and potential interactive influences that may exacerbate physical child abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expands research on the relationship between community (defined here as a locality) characteristics and child maltreatment. Research in this field is not new, but it is scarce. Our study is unique by examining changes between two periods rather than focusing on one point in time. Furthermore, our study examines structural conditions in small and medium size localities in Israel, a non-Western and non-Christian society. We compare our results with those from studies on inner-city and suburban neighborhoods in Western countries and earlier studies in Israel. We collected data on 169 Israeli localities, ranging from small ones (with as few as 1,500 residents) to medium size localities (i.e., towns) (with as many as 50,000 residents) in which approximately 34% of the Israeli child population resides. Our study tested four hypotheses: (1) Socioeconomic characteristics of the locality will be negatively correlated with the availability of social services; (2) Reported child maltreatment rates will be negatively correlated with the socioeconomic characteristics of the locality; (3) The availability of social services will be positively correlated with reported child maltreatment rates; and (4) Overall reported child maltreatment rates will be negatively correlated with the overall status of the localities. We have supported our second and third hypothesis in full, and partially supported our first and fourth hypothesis. In particular we have demonstrated that while demographics play a different role in Israel than in other countries in regard to child maltreatment, social, economic and cultural context are crucial for understating reported rates of child maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authoritarian ideology, including religious conservativism, endorses obedience to authority and physical punishment of children. Although this association has been studied at the level of the family, little research has been conducted on whether conservativism in the broader community context correlates with the mistreatment of children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this relation between conservativism and physical punishment of children extends to child abuse rates at the community level. Predictors included county-level religious and political conservativism and demographic variables. Political and religious conservativism covaried, and both were inversely related to child abuse rates. Population density was strongly related to rates of maltreatment and with demographic factors controlled, religious conservativism but not political conservativism continued to predict rates of child abuse. The results suggest that community factors related to social disorganization may be more important than religious or political affiliation in putting children at risk for maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the neglect of children, child abuse and the problems experienced by children in many troubled families in Australia. Topics include historical background of child protection; statistics related to the prevalence and incidence of child abuse in 2013 to 2014; and initiatives and targeted services for the children and their families like Communities for Children.

Este artículo muestra los resultados de la caracterización de los imaginarios sociales en torno al derecho de protección de niños y niñas escolarizados, entre 7 y 12 años de edad, de dos instituciones educativas de los municipios de Manatí y Malambo departamento del Atlántico (Colombia). A partir de afirmaciones obtenidas en grupos focales, se hizo un ejercicio de interpretación de la manera cómo operan y se construyen los imaginarios sociales que tienen los niños y niñas, como sujetos titulares de derechos, frente al derecho a la protección, con el propósito de generar insumos que replanteen la forma como se diseñan las estrategias de comunicación orientadas a prevenir el maltrato, abuso y abandono. Partiendo de un análisis descriptivo y empleando el software de procesamiento de datos cualitativos Atlas-Ti se lograron identificar, describir y contrastar teóricamente los imaginarios: la familia como territorio protector, el espacio público como territorio negado y las instituciones como responsables de la protección de la infancia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child abuse encompasses four major forms of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect. The United States retains one of the worst records of child abuse in the industrialized world. It has also been determined that a large portion of these cases are missed and go undocumented in state and federal reporting agencies. In addition, disparate risk factors have been identified for physical abuse and neglect cases, but substance abuse has been found to be a significant factor in all forms of abuse. Fatal child maltreatment and neglect investigations require a multi-pronged and multidisciplinary approach requiring the coordination and information gathering from various agencies. A major difficulty in determining the accidental or non-accidental nature of these cases is that the account surrounding the events of the death of child is acquired from the caretaker. In this review, we outline common diagnostic characteristics and patterns of non-accidental injuries and neglect as a result of nutritional deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of child maltreatment in the Netherlands was in 2005 first systematically examined in the Netherlands’ Prevalence study on Maltreatment of children and youth (NPM-2005), using sentinel reports and substantiated CPS cases, and in the Pupils on Abuse study (PoA-2005), using high school students’ self-report. In this second National Prevalence study on Maltreatment (NPM-2010), we used the same three methods to examine the prevalence of child maltreatment in 2010, enabling a cross-time comparison of the prevalence of child maltreatment in the Netherlands. First, 1,127 professionals from various occupational branches (sentinels) reported each child for whom they suspected child maltreatment during a period of three months. Second, we included 22,661 substantiated cases reported in 2010 to the Dutch Child Protective Services. Third, 1,920 high school students aged 12–17 years filled out a questionnaire on their experiences of maltreatment in 2010. The overall prevalence of child maltreatment in the Netherlands in 2010 was 33.8 per 1,000 children based on the combined sentinel and CPS reports and 99.4 per 1,000 adolescents based on self-report. Major risk factors for child maltreatment were parental low education, immigrant status, unemployment, and single parenthood. We found a large increase in CPS-reports, whereas prevalence rates based on sentinel and self-report did not change between 2005 and 2010. Based on these findings a likely conclusion is that the actual number of maltreated children has not increased from 2005 to 2010, but that professionals have become more aware of child maltreatment, and more likely to report cases to CPS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: The overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in child welfare systems in the U.S., Canada, and Australia is well documented, but limited attention has been paid to investigation-stage disproportionality. This paper examines the overrepresentation of First Nations (the largest of three federally recognized Aboriginal groups in Canada) children, focusing on three questions: (1) What is the level/nature of First Nations overrepresentation at the investigation stage? (2) What is known about the source of referrals in child welfare investigations involving First Nations children? (3) What risk factors and child functioning concerns are identified for investigated First Nations children and families? Methods: The First Nations Component of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (FNCIS-2008) was designed to address limitations in existing Aboriginal child welfare data: it sampled one quarter of the Aboriginally governed child welfare agencies that conduct investigations in Canada, gathered data on over 3,000 investigations involving First Nations children, and incorporated weights designed for analysis of First Nations data. Bivariate analyses are used to compare investigations involving First Nations and non-Aboriginal children. Results: The rate of investigations for First Nations children living in the areas served by sampled agencies was 4.2 times that for non-Aboriginal children; investigation-stage overrepresentation was compounded by each short term case disposition examined. A higher proportion of First Nations than non-Aboriginal investigations involved non-professional referrals, a pattern consistent with disparities in access to alternative services. Workers expressed concerns about multiple caregiver risk factor concerns for more than ½ of investigated First Nations families and, with the exception of “health issues”, identified every caregiver/household risk factor examined in a greater percentage of First Nations than non-Aboriginal households. Conclusions: It would be extremely difficult to reduce First Nations overrepresentation at later decision points without addressing overrepresentation at the investigation-stage. Despite the serious needs of investigated First Nations families, alternatives to traditional child protection responses may be appropriate in many cases. If First Nations overrepresentation is to be reduced, child welfare agencies must be equipped to provide supports needed to help families address factors such as poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence, and lack of social supports. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined victim, family, and alleged perpetrator characteristics associated with fatal child maltreatment (FCM) in 685 cases identified by child welfare services in the state of Oklahoma over a 21-year period. Analyses also examined differences in child, family, and alleged perpetrator characteristics of deaths from abuse versus neglect. Case information was drawn from child welfare investigation records for all FCM cases identified by the state Department of Human Services. Fatal neglect accounted for the majority (51%) of deaths. Children were primarily younger than age 5, and parents were most frequently the alleged perpetrators. Moreover, most victims had not been the subject of a child welfare report prior to their death. A greater number of children in the home and previous family involvement with child welfare increased children's likelihood of dying from neglect, rather than physical abuse. In addition, alleged perpetrators of neglect were more likely to be female and biologically related to the victim. These results indicate that there are unique family risk factors for death from neglect (versus physical abuse) that may be important to consider when selecting or developing prevention efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Linking administrative data records for the same individuals across services and over time offers a powerful, population-wide resource for child maltreatment research that can be used to identify risk and protective factors and to examine outcomes. Multistage de-identification processes have been developed to protect privacy and maintain confidentiality of the datasets. Lack of information on those not coming to the attention of child protection agencies, and limited information on certain variables, such as individual-level SES and parenting practices, is outweighed by strengths that include large and unbiased samples, objective measures, comprehensive long-term follow-up, continuous data collection, and relatively low expense. Ever emerging methodologies and expanded holdings ensure that research using linked population-wide databases will make important contributions to the study of child maltreatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this article, we argue for expanded efforts to integrate administrative data systems as a “practical strategy” for developing a richer understanding of child abuse and neglect. Although the study of child maltreatment is often critiqued for being atheoretical, we believe that a more pressing concern is the absence of population-based and prospective epidemiological data that can be used to better understand the distribution and interacting nature of risk and protective factors for maltreatment. We begin by briefly addressing the relevance of empirical observations to etiological theories of child maltreatment. Although the latter is widely cited as critical to the development of effective prevention and intervention responses, less attention has been paid to the role of population-based data in the development of theories relevant to highly applied research questions such as those pertaining to child abuse and neglect. We then discuss how child protection data, in isolation, translates into a relatively narrow range of questions that can be asked and answered, with an inherently pathology-focused construction of risks and little attention paid to strengths or protective factors. We next turn to examples of recent findings—spanning multiple countries—emerging from information integrated across data systems, concluding by calling for expanded administrative data linkages in an effort to better understand and prevent child maltreatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As child abuse in the nation is on the rise, reporting by healthcare providers is on the decline. This paper is a review of current statistics related to child abuse and proposed resolutions to decrease the level of underreported child abuse in the healthcare setting. This article brings to light possible reporting barriers and solutions to overcome those barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Methodologies to identify and enumerate children outside of family care vary as do the vulnerability categories of the children themselves. Children outside of family care is a broad term encompassing children absent of permanent family care, e.g., institutionalized children, children on/of the street, child-headed households, separated or unaccompanied children, trafficked children, children working in exploitive labor situations, etc. This paper reviews the various methodologies applied to identify and enumerate these often hidden and/or mobile populations. Methodologies that identify and enumerate children outside of family strive to meet two objectives: (1) to estimate the number and characteristics of a specific vulnerability category and (2) to determine eligibility to receive services. The paper reviews eight methodologies; six are categorized as survey sample methods (time-location sampling, capture recapture sampling, respondent driven sampling, the neighborhood method, household surveys, and establishment surveys) while two were labeled as data management systems (child labor management system, and databases of institutions). Each review includes a concise description of the methodology, its strengths and limitations, the most appropriate population it is suited to identify and/or enumerate, and any necessary conditions. Conclusions from these reviews advocate for tailoring a methodology (or a combination of methodologies) to the specific circumstances under which it is meant to identify or enumerate children outside of family care. In addition, further research and validation studies are needed to identify the conditions under which the strategies described here can be used and to develop appropriate protocols for utilization [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: To assess the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) against pregnant women on subsequent perpetration of child abuse and neglect (CAN) by parents; and to test the mediation effect of recent IPV on the link between IPV during pregnancy and subsequent CAN. Methods: This study was a longitudinal follow-up of a population-based study on pregnancy IPV conducted in antenatal clinics in 7 public hospitals in Hong Kong in 2005. Of all participants in the 2005 study, we recruited 487 women (with 184 having reported pregnancy IPV in the 2005 study) with newborn babies for a follow-up telephone interview in 2008. Participants responded to the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS), the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale, and some questions assessing demographic information. Results: The most common form of physical violence was corporal punishment, with a prevalence rate of 75.1% in the preceding year and 75.4% over their lifetime. Physical maltreatment was less likely to be reported, accounting for 4.7% in the preceding year and 4.9% over their lifetime. The preceding-year and lifetime prevalence rates of neglect were 11.3% and 11.5%, respectively. Findings from logistic regression analyses showed that IPV experienced by participants during pregnancy was associated with greater odds of both lifetime (aOR=1.74) and preceding-year child physical maltreatment (aOR=1.78). Results of the regression analyses also provided supportive evidence for the mediation effect of recent IPV victimization on the relationship between IPV during pregnancy and recent CAN against children. Conclusion: IPV against women during pregnancy predicted subsequent CAN on newborns in Chinese populations. This underscores the importance of screening pregnant women for IPV in order to prevent CAN at an early stage. Home visitations are suggested to break the cycle of violence within a nuclear family. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined the impact of judicial experience and expectancy-related case factors on perceptions of risk in decisions to terminate parental rights. One hundred and thirty-three child abuse and neglect court judges read a simulated child protection case and decided whether to terminate parental rights. Three expectancy-related case factors (sibling presence, parent support, and information regarding the child's potential adoptability) were varied across eight experimental conditions. Data regarding judges' experience, emotion, cognitive style, and certain demographic variables were analyzed in relation to their perceptions of risk for the child returning home and the child remaining in foster care. Expectancy-related case factors predicted risk perception for experienced judges only. In contrast, emotion, cognitive style, and demographic variables predicted less experienced judges' decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article talks about the physical and psychological violence against children in Nigeria. The topics addressed include information on the psychology of adults towards the birth of child and childhood and details on the report of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on violence against children in Nigeria.