Reporting Participants in Research Studies to Child Protective Services: Limited Risk to Attrition

• NCJ Number: 216113
• Journal: Child Maltreatment Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 257-262
• Author(s): Elizabeth Dawes Knight; Jamie B. Smith; Howard Dubowitz; Alan J. Litrownik; Jonathan Kotch; Diana English; Mark D. Everson; Desmond K. Runyan
• Date Published: August 2006
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): 90CA1678
• 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 the impact of Child Protective Services (CPS) reports made by research study staff on participant retention and discussed human subjects’ protocols that might minimize either the need to make such reports or the negative impact of reporting on participants and on participant retention.

Abstract

The very low rate of participants reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) by this study suggests that asking caregivers about a child’s possible maltreatment may be less risky in terms of requiring a CPS report than has previously been thought. The actual risk to participants of being reported by the researchers was very low, and participants were retained at a very high rate. In addition, participants who had been reported to CPS by project staff returned to participate in subsequent interviews. Findings encourage investigators, who may balk at research on those who are at risk for experiencing maltreatment. Child maltreatment research is fraught with ethical difficulties related to the reporting of suspected child maltreatment. Researchers in some States are required to report suspected maltreatment. At the very least, most State mandatory reporting laws and Institutional Review Boards demand that if research activity reveals that a child is in danger of imminent harm, the child must be reported to CPS. Given the threats to scientific integrity and the legal and ethical duties to report suspected maltreatment, how can researchers study an issue as critical to child and family well-being as child maltreatment? This study clarified the risks to participant retention posed by child maltreatment reporting research studies. The study specifically examined the antecedents and consequences of child maltreatment and the risk and protective factors influencing these processes using LONGSCAN, a consortium of five coordinated longitudinal studies of child maltreatment. The LONGSCAN sample consisted of 1,354 children who had a range of experiences at the time of recruitment. Tables, references