Adolescent Screening for Maltreatment -Teen

Adolescent Screening for Maltreatment -Teen

Adolescent Screening for Maltreatment

Summary of Recommendation and Evidence

Population

Recommendation

Grade
(What's This?)

Screening of both Genders

This screening is recommended for adolescents.

B

Overview

Child maltreatment includes all types of abuse and neglect of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role (e.g., clergy, coach, teacher). There are four common types of abuse.

  • Physical abuse is the use of intentional physical force, such as hitting, kicking, shaking, burning or other show of force against a child.
  • Sexual abuse involves engaging a child in sexual acts. It includes fondling, rape, and exposing a child to other sexual activities.
  • Emotional abuse refers to behaviors that harm a child’s self-worth or emotional well-being. Examples include name calling, shaming, rejection, withholding love, and threatening.
  • Neglect is the failure to meet a child’s basic needs. These needs include housing, food, clothing, education, and access to medical care.

Why is child maltreatment a public health problem?

The few cases of abuse or neglect we see in the news are only a small part of the problem. Many cases are not reported to police or social services. What we do know is that:

  • 1,640 children died in the United States in 2012 from abuse and neglect.
  • 686,000 children were found to be victims of maltreatment by child protective services in 2012.
  • The total lifetime economic burden resulting from new cases of fatal and nonfatal child maltreatment in the United States is approximately $124 billion.

How does child maltreatment affect health?

Child maltreatment has a negative effect on health. Abused children often suffer physical injuries including cuts, bruises, burns, and broken bones. In addition, maltreatment causes stress that can disrupt early brain development. Extreme stress can harm the development of the nervous and immune systems. As a result, children who are abused or neglected are at higher risk for health problems as adults. These problems include alcoholism, depression, drug abuse, eating disorders, obesity, high-risk sexual behaviors, smoking, suicide, and certain chronic diseases.

What are the risk factors?

Some factors can increase the risk for abuse or neglect. The presence of these factors does not always mean that maltreatment will occur. Children are never to blame for the harm others do to them.

Individual Risk Factors

  • Parents’ lack of understanding of children’s needs, child development and parenting skills
  • Parents’ history of child maltreatment in family of origin
  • Substance abuse and/or mental health issues including depression in the family
  • Parental characteristics such as young age, low education, single parenthood, large number of dependent children, and low income
  • Nonbiological, transient caregivers in the home (e.g., mother’s male partner)
  • Parental thoughts and emotions that tend to support or justify maltreatment behaviors

Family Risk Factors

  • Social isolation
  • Family disorganization, dissolution, and violence, including intimate partner violence
  • Parenting stress, poor parent-child relationships, and negative interactions

Community Risk Factors

  • Community violence
  • Concentrated neighborhood disadvantage (e.g., high poverty and residential instability, high unemployment rates, and high density of alcohol outlets), and poor social connections.

Protective Factors for Child Maltreatment

Protective factors buffer children from being abused or neglected. These factors exist at various levels. Protective factors have not been studied as extensively or rigorously as risk factors. However, identifying and understanding protective factors are equally as important as researching risk factors.

Family Protective Factors

  • Nurturing parenting skills
  • Stable family relationships
  • Household rules and child monitoring
  • Parental employment
  • Adequate housing
  • Access to health care and social services
  • Caring adults outside the family who can serve as role models or mentors

Community Protective Factors

  • Communities that support parents and take responsibility for preventing abuse

How to prevent child maltreatment?

The ultimate goal is to stop child maltreatment before it starts. Strategies that promote safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) and environments for children and families are key to protecting against maltreatment and other harmful childhood experiences. These prevention strategies include improving parent-child relationships by teaching positive parenting skills like good communication, appropriate discipline, and response to children’s physical and emotional needs. Programs to prevent child maltreatment also provide parents with social support.