Primary Prevention of Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: Gaps and Promising Directions

• NCJ Number: 220601
• Journal: Child Maltreatment Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 364-377
• Author(s): Joanne Klevins; Daniel J. Whitaker
• Date Published: November 2007
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This literature review identifies gaps in the development of primary prevention interventions for child physical abuse and neglect, followed by recommendations for future directions in the development of interventions based on a public health perspective.

Abstract

The review found 140 publications between 1980 and 2004 that described 188 primary prevention programs or strategies for child maltreatment. There were several notable gaps in this body of work. First, only about one-fourth of the programs described had been subjected to a rigorous evaluation. In addition, many of the evaluated programs did not measure child maltreatment. Rather they measured only the risk factor that was hypothesized to lead to child maltreatment. Although it is important to measure those mediators, it is equally important to measure final outcomes, such as child maltreatment and other related health outcomes. This is required in order to establish a link between risk factors and outcomes. A second major gap was the failure of all but three of the programs to address neglect, which is the most common form of child maltreatment. A final gap was an uneven distribution of primary prevention strategies that address modifiable risk and protective factors across the social ecological model. Among such risk and protective factors that should be addressed are teenage pregnancy, cognitive inflexibility, social skills deficits, harsh discipline, family conflict and partner violence, poverty, social disorganization, lack of community cohesion, fragmented social services, and social norms that tolerate violence toward children. The publications reviewed were part of a project designed to identify interventions (preventive and therapeutic) for any type of child maltreatment. Interventions were located through a search of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC (1980-2004), National Criminal Justice Reference Service, National Child Abuse and Neglect Clearinghouse, Inside Conferences (1993-2003), Conference papers Index (1973-2003), Google, and Youth Tree USA. 2 tables and 205 references