Identifying Children at High Risk for a Child Maltreatment Report

• NCJ Number: 234560
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2011 Pages: 96-104
• Author(s): Howard Dubowitz; Jeongeum Kim; Maureen M. Black; Cindy Weisbart; Joshua Semiatin; Laurence S. Magder
• Date Published: February 2011
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): 90CA1749
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined factors that could be used to identify children at high risk for future child maltreatment.

Abstract

The study found that for the 224 children without a prior child protective services (CPS) report who were followed for an average of 10 years, 43 percent (n=97) eventually received a CPS report. The study identified five risk factors that could predict a child receiving a CPS report: 1) child's low performance on a standardized developmental assessment; 2) maternal education less than a high school education; 3) maternal drug use; 4) maternal depressive symptoms; and 5) additional children in the family. Data for this study were obtained from a prospective, longitudinal study of 332 low-income families who visited urban pediatric primary care clinics. Children from the families who were at risk for child maltreatment and had not yet received a CPS report were followed for an average of 10 years until they were 12 years old. The children and families were evaluated on five risk factors that are associated with an increased risk for later child maltreatment. The results indicate that by identifying the risk factors, health care and other professionals can provide the necessary services to strengthen and support families and potentially help to prevent child maltreatment. Tables, figure, and references