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1.
In this study of 246 Texas counties, the varying ability of certain community characteristics to predict rates of maltreatment was examined for different ethnic groups. The use of rates based on Central Registry data is based on the assumption that officially registered reports of abuse and neglect are a reasonably valid index of actual child maltreatment. The results provide support for socioeconomic and demographic factors investigated by previous ecological researchers. In general, the greater the proportions of single mothers and working mothers in a community, the greater its rate of maltreatment; the greater the proportion of families with annual incomes over $15,000, the lower the county maltreatment rate. Differential patterns were observed for various predictors for rates of abuse and neglect considered separately. Greater economic resources availability was significantly related to lower county rates of neglect, but not significantly related to abuse rates. Higher abuse rates were significantly associated with greater proportions of single mothers, while higher neglect rates were significantly associated with greater proportions of absent mothers due to employment. Smaller amounts of formal economic assistance to single-parent families (AFDC) significantly enhanced the prediction of counties at risk for higher rates of child abuse. Differential patterns of results were observed for Anglo, Black, and Mexican-American segments of county populations. Socioeconomic status of counties was a significant predictor of Anglo rates; greater urbanization was a significant predictor of increased rates of both Black and Mexican-American maltreatment. These results support the use of indicators of the availability of economic and social resources for identifying high-risk communities and planning preventive interventions for child maltreatment. 相似文献
2.
School professionals have a unique vantage point for identifying child maltreatment and they are a frequent source of referral to child protective services. Disturbingly, past studies have found that maltreatment concerns reported by educators go unsubstantiated by child protective services at much higher rates than suspected maltreatment reported by other professionals. This study explores whether there are systematic differences in the characteristics of cases reported by educators as compared to other professionals and examines whether such variation might account for differences in investigation outcome. Analyses were based on 7,725 cases of suspected maltreatment referred by professionals to child protective services from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect – 2003 a national database on the characteristics of children and families investigated by child protective services. School professionals were responsible for 35.8% of professional referrals. Reports by educators were much more likely to be unsubstantiated (45.3%) than those by other professionals (28.4%) in subsequent child protective investigation. Cases reported by educators were found to contain significantly more child risk factors (e.g., child emotional and behavioural problems) and fewer caregiver and family risk factors (e.g., caregiver mental health problem, single parent family) than cases reported by other professionals. Even controlling for these differences, educator-reported concerns were still 1.84, 95% CI [1.41, 2.40] times as likely to be unsubstantiated as reports from other professionals. Contrary to the notion that educators are mostly reporting non-severe cases, suspected/substantiated cases reported by school professionals were more likely to be judged as chronic and more likely to involve families with a previous child protection history. Results are concerning for the capacity of the education and child protection systems to work together to meet their shared goal of promoting healthy child development. Additional research is needed on the way in which child risks and problems influence child protective service, particularly in the context of chronic abuse and neglect and lack of availability of child and family mental health interventions. Potential problems with credibility of school professionals as reporters of child maltreatment concerns also warrant further investigation. 相似文献
3.
Cumulative stress and substantiated maltreatment: the importance of caregiver vulnerability and adult partner violence 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to assess the effect of caregiver vulnerabilities, singly and in combination, on the substantiation of child abuse (physical, sexual) and neglect, while controlling for relevant background variables. We test the moderator role of adult partner violence in qualifying the relationship between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. METHOD: Secondary analyses of the 1998 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) are used to predict child protective service investigation substantiation versus non-substantiation from a range of caregiver vulnerability factors. Involvement in partner violence was examined as a moderator in the relation between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. The CIS is an epidemiological survey of first-reported cases to child protective services, using a random sample of child welfare agencies across Canada. Child welfare workers completed a research form on the child, primary caregiver, family, perpetrator, severity and type of maltreatment, as well as services and court outcomes. All maltreatment classifications were assigned according to the Canadian legal definition of child abuse and neglect. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used, with stepped entry of: (1) demographic factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and caregiver's own history of maltreatment; (2) caregiver vulnerability factors; (3) involvement in partner violence; (4) the interaction between caregiver vulnerability and partner violence. RESULTS: Caregiver substance abuse was found to be the single most potent kind of caregiver vulnerability in predicting maltreatment substantiation. When the total number of vulnerabilities was used as the predictor, prediction across all types of maltreatment increased, especially for substantiated neglect. Analyses also showed that the presence of partner violence in the home exacerbated the effect of caregiver vulnerability on substantiation. CONCLUSIONS: The total number of caregiver vulnerabilities was the best predictor of the substantiation of child abuse and neglect. This relationship was moderated by the existence of partner violence: high caregiver vulnerability and high partner violence increased the likelihood of substantiation versus non-substantiation. These results suggest that caregiver issues should be considered in tandem with partner relationships. Among child welfare cases, caregiver vulnerability and partner violence are critical targets for child maltreatment prevention and early child protective services intervention. 相似文献
4.
OBJECTIVE: This study examines how the availability of alcohol and illicit drugs (as measured by alcohol outlet density and police incidents of drug sales and possessions) is related to neighborhood rates of child abuse and neglect, controlling for other neighborhood demographic characteristics. METHOD: Data from substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect in 304 block groups in a northern California city were analyzed using spatial regression techniques. RESULTS: This study found that higher concentration of bars (B=6.66, p<.05) and higher numbers of incidents of drug possession (B=.53, p<.001) were positively related to rates of child maltreatment in neighborhoods when controlling for neighborhood demographic characteristics. Thus, areas with more bars and drug possession incidents per 1000 population have higher rates of child maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of more bars per population may represent a lack of resources available to residents, may increase the stress on neighborhoods by "attracting" populations prone to participating in dangerous activities, or increase the frequency of alcohol use that then leads to maltreatment. Areas with more drug possession incidents may also contribute to the overall level of neighborhood stress and disorganization or act as a marker for drug use that leads to maltreatment. These results suggest that the neighborhood substance availability may deserve special attention when developing preventive interventions to reduce child abuse and neglect in neighborhood areas. 相似文献
5.
Maltreatment continues to be a leading cause of death for young children. Researchers are beginning to uncover which neighborhood attributes may be associated with maltreatment outcomes. However, few studies have been able to explore these influences while controlling for individual family attributes, and none have been able to parse out the most severe outcomes—injuries resulting in hospitalization or death. This study utilizes a retrospective, case-control design on a dataset containing both individual and environmental level attributes of children who have been hospitalized or died due to maltreatment to explore the relative influence of attributes inside and outside the household walls. Binary conditional logistic regression was used to model the outcome as a function of the individual and environmental level predictors. Separate analyses also separated the outcome by manner of maltreatment: abuse or neglect. Finally, a sub-analysis included protective predictors representing access to supportive resources. Findings indicate that neighborhood attributes were similar for both cases and controls, except in the neglect only model, wherein impoverishment was associated with higher odds of serious maltreatment. Dense housing increased risk in all models except the neglect only model. In a sub-analysis, distance to Family Resource Centers was inversely related to serious maltreatment. In all models, variables representing more extreme intervention and/or removal of the victim and/or perpetrator from the home (foster care or criminal court involvement) were negatively associated with the risk of becoming a case. Medi-Cal insurance eligibility of a child was also negatively associated with becoming a case. Government interventions may be playing a critical role in child protection. More research is needed to ascertain how these interventions assert their influence. 相似文献
6.
OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional survey was conducted to evaluate the awareness and actual professional experience of pediatricians in Kuwait regarding child maltreatment, a topic rarely explored in this part of the world. METHODS: Data were obtained from all pediatricians in public hospitals with pediatric emergency services using a structured detailed self-completed questionnaire. RESULTS: The experience of child neglect was more common than that of child abuse in the clinical practice of surveyed pediatricians. Fifty percent of 117 pediatricians (69% of all eligible) reported having encountered at least 1 case of abuse and up to 3 cases of neglect in the past year. Women and younger doctors more commonly recognized hypothetical situations as maltreatment, and believed child abuse and neglect as being common or very common in Kuwait. Other demographic or professional variables did not affect recognition of maltreatment. Participants would most likely alert social workers about suspected maltreatment cases. More than 80% did not know whether there is a legal obligation to report or which legal authorities should receive reports of suspected cases. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: National ethical guidelines regarding reporting suspected cases of maltreatment must be established. Laws protecting maltreated children and reporting physicians must be immediately enacted. Additional training is required to help pediatricians, especially expatriates from other cultures, to diagnose with certainty cases of child maltreatment in their practice in Kuwait. 相似文献
7.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether child maltreatment is associated with obesity in preschool children. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of 4898 children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 large US cities. At 3 years of age, 2412 of these children had their height and weight measured, and mothers answered items on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales about three types of child maltreatment--neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression. The frequency of each type of maltreatment behavior in the prior year was analyzed using categories--ever/never for neglect and quintiles for the other two types of maltreatment. Child obesity was defined as measured body mass index (kg/m(2)) > or =95th percentile. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of the children were obese, and the prevalence of any episode of neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression was 11%, 84%, and 93%, respectively. The odds of obesity were increased in children who had experienced neglect (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.14), after controlling for the income and number of children in the household, the mothers' race/ethnicity, education, marital status, body mass index, prenatal smoking, and age, and the children's sex and birth weight. Neither the frequency of corporal punishment nor psychological aggression was associated with an increased risk of obesity. CONCLUSIONS: In a sample of preschool children from 20 large US cities, maternal self-report of neglectful behavior was associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity, after controlling for birth weight, maternal obesity, and multiple socioeconomic factors. 相似文献
8.
This article compares multiple types of child maltreatment among Puerto Rican youth. We seek to expand the limited knowledge of the effects of multiple types of maltreatment on depressive symptoms in a specific Latino population as emerging studies indicate that children who are exposed to one type of maltreatment are often exposed to other types. This study examines the predictive strength of different and multiple types of lifetime child maltreatment (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; and neglect), and the effect of youth support from parents, youth coping, youth self-esteem, and place of residence on depressive symptoms among Puerto Rican youth. Secondary data analyses were performed using three annual waves (2000–2004) of data from the Boricua Youth Study. The analytic sample consists of 1041 10–13 year old Puerto Rican youth living in New York and Puerto Rico. Results indicate that: (1) youth who experienced ‘sexual abuse only’, ‘multiple maltreatment’ (2 or more types of maltreatment), ‘physical abuse only’ have a significant increase in depressive symptoms (75.1%, 61.6%, and 40.5% respectively) compared to those without maltreatment; and (2) place of residence, exposure to violence, and mental disorders were significant risk factors. When developing psychosocial interventions, professionals should particularly focus on youth who report past lifetime experience with child maltreatment. Particular attention should be given to children living in the Bronx, New York and similar urban low-income areas who report past lifetime experience with multiple types of child maltreatment and who present symptoms or a diagnosis of co-occurring mental health problems. 相似文献
9.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives were to determine the effectiveness of programs in promoting family wellness and preventing child maltreatment and to identify factors that moderate program success. METHOD: Meta-analysis, employing a 3-step model testing procedure, was used to review 56 programs designed to promote family wellness and prevent child maltreatment. RESULTS: The effect sizes for proactive interventions were larger at follow-up than at post-assessment, while the effect sizes for reactive interventions were higher at post-assessment than follow-up. The lowest effect sizes for home visitation programs on child maltreatment were for programs with 12 or fewer visits and less than a 6-month duration. Intensive family preservation programs with high levels of participant involvement, an empowerment/strengths-based approach, and a component of social support had higher effect sizes than programs without those elements. Also, both home visitation and intensive family preservation interventions achieved higher effect sizes with participants of mixed socioeconomic status (SES) than participants with low SES. CONCLUSIONS: The total mean weighted effect size was .41, indicating that outcomes for the intervention group exceed 66% of those in control/comparison groups. The findings from this review demonstrated that child maltreatment can be prevented and that family wellness can be promoted. 相似文献
10.
The degree to which child maltreatment interacts with other household adversities to exacerbate risk for poor adult socioeconomic outcomes is uncertain. Moreover, the effects of residential, school, and caregiver transitions during childhood on adult outcomes are not well understood. This study examined the relation between household adversity and transitions in childhood with adult income problems, education, and unemployment in individuals with or without a childhood maltreatment history. The potential protective role of positive relationship quality in buffering these risk relationships was also tested. Data were from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study (n = 457), where subjects were assessed at preschool, elementary, adolescent, and adult ages. Multiple group path analysis tested the relationships between childhood household adversity; residential, school, and caregiver transitions; and adult socioeconomic outcomes for each group. Caregiver relationship quality was included as a moderator, and gender as a covariate. Household adversity was negatively associated with education level and positively associated with income problems for non-maltreated children only. For both groups, residential transitions was negatively associated with education level and caregiver transitions was positively associated with unemployment problems. Relationship quality was positively associated with education level only for non-maltreated children. For children who did not experience maltreatment, reducing exposure to household adversity is an important goal for prevention. Reducing exposure to child maltreatment for all children remains an important public health priority. Results underscore the need for programs and policies that promote stable relationships and environments. 相似文献
11.
Prevalence and demographic correlates of childhood maltreatment in an adult community sample 总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3
PURPOSE: This study had two aims: (1) to determine the prevalence of five categories of retrospectively reported childhood maltreatment in an adult community sample and (2) to examine relationships between three theoretically and practically chosen demographic variables and childhood maltreatment. METHOD: Participants were a representative sample of 967 adult men and women in the metropolitan Memphis, Tennessee area. They completed a telephone survey that included a reliable, valid questionnaire assessing five types of childhood maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, and sexual abuse) and demographic questions. Simultaneous logistic regression analyses were used to identify demographic correlates of specific trauma types. RESULTS: Prevalence of childhood maltreatment ranged from approximately 30% for women to over 40% for men. Approximately 13% of participants reported multiple forms of maltreatment. The most common forms of trauma for both men and women were physical abuse, physical neglect, and emotional abuse, all of which were highly likely to co-occur. Race, sex, and current educational level were each associated with an increased likelihood of childhood maltreatment; differential relationships with particular maltreatment types were also observed. IMPLICATIONS: These findings highlight the importance of research on the prevalence of and risks for multiple types of childhood maltreatment, particularly in the somewhat neglected area of emotional abuse and neglect. These findings can be used to highlight the need for preventive interventions aimed at the negative sequelae of childhood maltreatment and to tailor preventive interventions to the needs and expectations of those at high risk. 相似文献
12.
The objective of this study was to identify individual, family and caregiver risk factors for serious child maltreatment, resulting in hospitalization or death, among children and families investigated by Child Protective Services (CPS). We conducted a matched case-control study of 234 children who sustained fatal or serious nonfatal maltreatment due to physical abuse or neglect and whose mother was named in a CPS investigation between 1999 and 2013. A total of 702 children and their caregivers were included in the study with 234 cases matched 2:1,resulting in 468 controls. Data on potential risk factors were abstracted from three county administrative databases. Differences between cases and controls were calculated and multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate risk models. Variables associated with increased risk for serious maltreatment included male child gender,younger caregivers, three or more children under the age of 5 living in the home, families in which a biologic child was not living with either parent, and scoring moderate or high on the Structured Decision Making Risk Tool®. Caregiver involvement in intimate partner violence (IPV) and child enrollment in public health insurance appears to mitigate the risk of serious maltreatment. 相似文献
13.
OBJECTIVE: This exploratory study investigated the co-occurrence of domestic violence and three types of child maltreatment: physical child abuse, psychological child abuse, and child neglect. METHOD: A sample of 2544 at-risk mothers with first-born children participated in a home-visiting child abuse prevention program. A longitudinal design using multiple data collection methods investigated the effect of domestic violence during the first 6 months of child rearing on confirmed physical child abuse, psychological child abuse, and child neglect up to the child's first 5 years. RESULTS: Logistic regressions revealed significant relationships between domestic violence and physical child abuse, psychological child abuse, and child neglect. These effects were significant beyond the significant effects of known risks of maltreatment, as measured by the Kempe Family Stress Inventory (KFSI). Domestic violence occurred in 59 (38%) of the 155 cases of confirmed maltreatment. Domestic violence preceded child maltreatment in 46 (78%) of the 59 cases of co-occurrence, as indicated by independent home observations and child protective service records. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that domestic violence during the first 6 months of child rearing is significantly related to all three types of child maltreatment up to the child's fifth year. Domestic violence and risks factors measured on the KFSI continue to contribute to all three types of maltreatment up to the child's fifth year. Prevention programs would be wise to provide services to at-risk families until the child is at least 5 years old. Addressing concurrent problems during treatment may enhance intervention. 相似文献
14.
Child poverty is well known as a major risk factor for child maltreatment. However, it is not known whether parental psychological distress and individual-level social capital mediate the association. We examined the mediation effect of these two factors on the association between child poverty and maltreatment. In the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) Study, a questionnaire was administered to all caregivers of first-grade children in every public elementary school in Adachi City between July and November 2015, and valid responses were used for analysis (N = 3944). Logistic and Poisson regression analyses were employed to examine the association between child poverty and maltreatment. Child poverty was defined in this study as meeting one of these criteria: 1) household income less than 3 million yen; 2) deprivation of specific material items that children or the household requires, or 3) experience of being unable to pay for lifeline utilities. Child maltreatment (physical abuse, neglect, and psychological abuse) was answered by parents. We confirmed a robust association between child poverty and maltreatment. Mediation analysis indicated that parental psychological distress mediated more than 60% of the association between child poverty on physical abuse and psychological abuse, while individual-level social capital mediated only 10% of the association with any type of maltreatment. In addition, structural equation modeling analysis revealed that the association was mediated by both parental psychological distress and social capital simultaneously. The findings suggest that supporting parental psychological distress may be an effective intervention to remedy the negative impact of child poverty on maltreatment. 相似文献
15.
OBJECTIVES: This article examines the "geography" of reported cases of child maltreatment in Israel by determining its frequency and rates according to nationality, area of residence, and size and type of locality. METHOD: The study collected data at the local level in Israel based on reports to social services of cases of child maltreatment during 2000; locality is the unit of analysis. RESULTS: The rate of reported cases of child maltreatment was 17.8 per 1,000 children in Israel in 2000. The rates varied, however, among different localities. They were lower in Arab localities (9 per 1,000 children) than in the Jewish ones (20 per 1,000), higher in large cities and other socioeconomic affluent localities (19 per 1,000), and varied according to the geographic area. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates considerable variation in rates of reported cases of child maltreatment by locality and by population makeup. Thus, to fulfill the Israeli legislation of mandatory reporting of any reasonable suspicion of child maltreatment, the state should better develop policies and services that encourage reporting of child maltreatment among the Arab and ultraorthodox populations and in smaller or socioeconomic disadvantaged localities. Furthermore, the social services must build a bridge to the minority populations in Israel, developing their trust in these services and increasing their propensity to use them. 相似文献
16.
Child maltreatment is a public health concern with well-established sequelae. However, compared to research on physical and sexual abuse, far less is known about the long-term impact of emotional maltreatment on mental health. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the association of emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and both emotional abuse and neglect with other types of child maltreatment, a family history of dysfunction, and lifetime diagnoses of several Axis I and Axis II mental disorders. Data were from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected in 2004 and 2005 (n = 34,653). The most prevalent form of emotional maltreatment was emotional neglect only (6.2%), followed by emotional abuse only (4.8%), and then both emotional abuse and neglect (3.1%). All categories of emotional maltreatment were strongly related to other forms of child maltreatment (odds ratios [ORs] ranged from 2.1 to 68.0) and a history of family dysfunction (ORs ranged from 2.2 to 8.3). In models adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, all categories of emotional maltreatment were associated with increased odds of almost every mental disorder assessed in this study (adjusted ORs ranged from 1.2 to 7.4). Many relationships remained significant independent of experiencing other forms of child maltreatment and a family history of dysfunction (adjusted ORs ranged from 1.2 to 3.0). The effects appeared to be greater for active (i.e., emotional abuse) relative to passive (i.e., emotional neglect) forms of emotional maltreatment. Childhood emotional maltreatment, particularly emotionally abusive acts, is associated with increased odds of lifetime diagnoses of several Axis I and Axis II mental disorders. 相似文献
17.
OBJECTIVE: This study examines the association between maternal childhood maltreatment and psychopathology and aggression in intimate relationships during pregnancy and the postpartum period. METHOD: Forty-four pregnant women who were recruited from an obstetric clinic and local advertising periodical completed questionnaires about childhood maltreatment and psychopathology during their first trimester of pregnancy. Approximately 1 year after the birth of the child, 32 of the original participants completed these same questionnaires. Regression models were used to test the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology and aggression during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum. RESULTS: Sexual abuse and emotional neglect were related to psychopathology during pregnancy, and emotional neglect and physical abuse and neglect predicted poorer maternal outcomes 1 year postpartum. Contrary to expectations, physical abuse was related to less aggression during pregnancy, and emotional abuse was associated with less pathology postpartum. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that childhood maltreatment is associated with poorer maternal mental health during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum and points to the need to improve targeting and treatment of psychopathology during this time. 相似文献
18.
BackgroundA history of childhood abuse and neglect (CAN) is associated with exposure to later negative life events. CAN at an early age, multiple cooccurring exposures (cumulative events), and a high severity and frequency of exposure have potential detrimental long-term effects.ObjectiveThe present study examines the relationship between the severity of CAN and the prevalence of school difficulties and hardship at school, adult adversity and mental health.Participants and Settings: Participants were recruited from in- and outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities, child protective services (CPS), and prisons (N = 809, age range = 13–66, mean age = 27.62, SD = 10.47).MethodsExposure to childhood maltreatment was assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (CTQ-SF). After adjusting for gender and age, we conducted a risk ratio regression analysis to investigate associations between severity of child abuse and neglect and hardship at school, adult adversity and adult mental health.ResultsThe moderate and severe level groups of CAN had statistically significant higher risk ratios for experiences of school difficulties, hardship at school, adult adversity and mental health problems. A robust dose-response was found between severity levels.ConclusionAt an individual level the findings highlight the association between exposure to abuse and adult adversity, underscoring the importance of targeting individuals with high risk of exposure to CAN to reduce the negative long-term risk for Polyvictimization. 相似文献
19.
BackgroundPrevious research has demonstrated the association between child maltreatment and household composition, with increased maltreatment risk generally present in single mother households. However, existing research does not fully examine the complexity and configuration of single mother households. In particular, less is known about important variants of single parent family structures, such as grandparents residing in the home, and the extent to which household compositions change across time.ObjectiveThe present study examines rates of maltreatment allegations across various household compositions in a sample of single biological mother households. Participants and Setting: Youth participants (N = 417) were part of the larger multi-site Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) study.MethodsParticipants completed longitudinal assessments of household composition and maltreatment allegations from ages 4 to 10. Results: The present study illustrates substantial variability in the rate of maltreatment allegations across different types of single mother household compositions. In particular, the presence of non-relatives, especially unrelated males, demonstrated an increased risk for maltreatment allegations in the home. Conversely, single mother homes with two or more adult relatives, especially grandmothers, were at reduced risk for child maltreatment allegations.ConclusionsThis study highlights variability in maltreatment allegations among single mother homes, including how maltreatment allegations vary across different household configurations, across child age periods and across different risk levels. 相似文献
20.
The news media plays a vital role in providing child protection information and resources, shaping the public’s understanding and perceptions of child maltreatment, and exposing system failures and setting policy agendas. To date, little is known about how child maltreatment is portrayed in the media in societies where these issues remain largely hidden and under-recognized. The purpose of the present study was to systematically examine newspaper coverage on child abuse and neglect in Hong Kong in order to assess how child maltreatment is currently presented and framed within public discourse.A total of 579 newspaper reports relevant to child maltreatment from four local newspapers in 2016 were reviewed. Similar to prior findings, cases involving sexual abuse received disproportionately more attention compared with other maltreatment types. The vast majority of news reports focused on specific cases or events, and seldom discussed child maltreatment as a broader social issue. Differences in reporting style and media framing were also compared by newspaper credibility, and for free versus paid newspapers.As a mass communication tool, more guidelines are needed to formulate public messages about child maltreatment that can improve individual, community, and structural capacities to prevent, identify, and respond to children who are victimized by abuse and neglect. This is especially important in jurisdictions where no mandatory reporting framework exists to help identify vulnerable children, and where the majority of child maltreatment is brought to the attention of authorities by families and those living within the child’s community. 相似文献