NCJ Number
163324
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1996) Pages: 155-169
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Although in the past parents were usually blamed when an infant died suddenly and unexpectedly, a more caring attitude evolved with adoption of the term "sudden infant death syndrome" (SIDS), and recent research on factors responsible for SIDS has focused on aspects of child care and parental behavior.
Abstract
Epidemiological studies confirm that several risk factors associated with child maltreatment may also be found in many families who experience a sudden infant death. In particular, social deprivation and other related features linked to maltreatment are correlated with sudden death in infancy. The authors suggest that both physical abuse and neglect (failure to thrive and failure to recognize and treat illness) are important mechanisms. They also point out that infanticide has existed widely over past centuries and its continuation in modern times is reflected in high infant murder rates. Detailed fatality reviews demonstrate, however, that much fatal abuse and neglect remain hidden. With increasing knowledge and greater awareness of child maltreatment, its importance as a major factor in infant deaths is becoming more clearly appreciated. Advances in knowledge have especially occurred in four areas: (1) role of suffocation in cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy and unexplained infant death; (2) increasing case reports of infants diagnosed as SIDS but shown to involve abuse or neglect; (3) epidemiological studies that show factors associated with sudden infant death are also associated with abuse or neglect and not with an intrinsic medical condition; and (4) failure to construct a hypothesis of an intrinsic medical defect to adequately explain many SIDS cases. 46 references