An epidemiological study of abused children and their families in the united kingdom between 1977 and 1982

doi:10.1016/0145-2134(85)90052-3

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 9, Issue 4, 1985, Pages 441-448

https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(85)90052-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Between 1977 and 1982 there were 6,532 children placed on the child abuse registers maintained by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in England. This paper examines the data on these children. The rate of physical injury increased over the last four years of the study from .43 to .63 per thousand children under 15 in the NSPCC register areas, but the percentage of fatal and serious injuries decreased over the entire period. There was also a decline in the rate of re-injury. Infants, hoys and low birthweights were overrepresented among the physically abused, neglected and nonorganic failure to thrive cases. Girls and 10–14 year olds were overrepresented among the sexually abused children. The parents or caretakers of the abused children were characterized by their early parenthood, marital instability, large families, criminality and mobility. An initial unemployment rate of 35% among the male caretakers increased to 58% over the last three years of the study.

Résumé

On a inscrit dans les registres de la “Société Nationale pour la prévention de la cruauté à l'égard d'enfants” 6.532 enfants venant de toute l'Angleterre. L'auteur a passé en revue les donées que l'on possède au sujet de ces enfants. Au cours des quatre dernières années de l'élude, la prévalence de la maltraitance physique a passé de .43 à .63 0/00 chez les enfants âgés de moins de 15 ans, par contre le pourcentage des blessures graves ou fatales a diminué pendant cette période de 4 ans. La fréquence des récidives de blessures non-accidentelles a également diminué. Parmi les enfants maltraités physiquement, négligés ou souffrant d'hypotrophie non-organique on trouve un excès de nourrissons, de garçons, et d'enfants ayant eu un petit poids à la naissance. Parmi les enfants ayant subi des sévices sexuels, on trouve un excès de filles et d'enfants entre 10 et 14 ans. Ce qui caractérisait les parents ou les gardiens d'enfants maltraités, c'était leur jeune âge. l'instabilité de leur mariage, les nombreux enfants, le taux de criminalité. et l'excessive mobilité. Pendant les années de l'étude le taux de chômage des pères ou gardiens du sexe mâle a passé de 35% à 58%, taux des dernières trois années de l'étude.

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Citation Excerpt :
Our study also found that 63% of parents lived together at the time of maltreatment. An earlier study by Creighton (1985) showed that less than half of maltreated treated children lived with both parents at the time of the abuse, and that among physically abused children, the percentage residing with both parents at the time of abuse decreased from 53% in 1977 to 44% in 1982 (Creighton, 1985). Schnitzer and Ewigman (2005) found that 37% of maltreated children lived with both biological parents, vs. 64% of control families.
The rate of multiple births has increased over the last two decades. In 1982, an increased frequency of injuries among this patient population was noted, but few studies have evaluated the increased incidence of maltreatment in twins. The study aim was to evaluate the features of all multiple-birth children with substantiated physical abuse and/or neglect over a four-year period at a major children's hospital.
A Retrospective chart review was conducted of multiple-gestation children in which at least one child in the multiple set experienced child maltreatment from January 2006 to December 2009. Data regarding the child, injuries, family, and perpetrators were abstracted. We evaluated whether family and child characteristics were associated with maltreatment, and whether types of injuries were similar within multiple sets. For comparison, data from the same time period for single-birth maltreated children also were abstracted, including child age, gestational age at birth, and injury type.
There were 19 sets of multiple births in which at least one child had abusive injuries and/or neglect. In 10 of 19 sets (53%), all multiples were found to have a form of maltreatment, and all children in these multiple sets shared at least one injury type. Parents lived together in 63% of cases. Fathers and mothers were the alleged perpetrator in 42% of the cases. Multiple-gestation-birth maltreated children were significantly more likely than single-birth maltreated children to have abdominal trauma (13% vs. 1%, respectively; p < .01), fractures (83% vs. 39%; p < .01), and to be injured at a younger mean age (12.8 months vs. 34.8 months; p < .01).
Siblings of maltreated, multiple-gestation children often, but not always, were abused. In sets with two maltreated children, children usually shared the same modes of maltreatment. Multiples are significantly more likely than singletons to be younger and experience fractures and abdominal trauma. The findings support the current standard practice of evaluating all children in a multiple set when one is found to be abused or neglected.
A national survey of childhood physical abuse among females in Swaziland
2013, Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Citation Excerpt :
Previous studies have shown that larger family size and household overcrowding may be risk factors for physical abuse [2,8,9]. Other factors that have been implicated in the risk of childhood physical abuse include: a poor parent–child relationship; intimate partner violence in the home; parental stress; lack of social support; presence of an unrelated father surrogate (stepfather, mother’s boyfriend); instability of family residence; having not lived in a nuclear family or having grown up separate from biological parents; and parental substance abuse [2,5,9–13]. Prior studies have also shown an association between self-reported physical abuse and other forms of child abuse, such as emotional and sexual abuse [14].
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The study utilized a two-stage cluster sampling design in order to conduct the household survey. Retrospective reports of childhood physical abuse and relevant risk factors were collected from 1292 females. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models examined associations between childhood physical abuse and both health consequences and risk factors.
Nearly 1 in 5 females in Swaziland has experienced childhood physical abuse in their lifetime, with nearly 1 in 20 having experienced abuse that was so severe that it required medical attention. A number of risk factors for lifetime childhood physical abuse were identified including: maternal death prior to age 13; having lived with three or more families during their childhood; and having experienced emotional abuse prior to age 13.
Preventing childhood physical abuse in Swaziland may be addressed through: promoting safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and their caretakers; addressing social norms that contribute to harsh physical punishment; and addressing underlying stressors associated with severe social and economic disadvantage.
Child maltreatment in the "children of the nineties": A cohort study of risk factors
2006, Child Abuse and Neglect
To analyze the multiple factors affecting the risk of maltreatment in young children within a comprehensive theoretical framework.
The research is based on a large UK cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Out of 14,256 children participating in the study, 293 were investigated by social services for suspected maltreatment and 115 were placed on local child protection registers prior to their 6th birthday. Data on the children have been obtained from obstetric data and from a series of parental questionnaires administered during pregnancy and the first 3 years of life. Risk factors have been analyzed using an hierarchical approach to logistic regression analysis.
In the stepwise hierarchical analysis, young parents, those with low educational achievement, and those with a past psychiatric history or a history of childhood abuse were all more likely to be investigated for maltreatment, or to have a child placed on the child protection register, with odds ratios between 1.86 and 4.96 for registration. Examining strength of effect, the highest risks were found with indicators of deprivation (3.24 for investigation and 11.02 for registration, after adjusting for parental background factors). Poor social networks increased the risk of both investigation (adjusted OR 1.93) and registration (adjusted OR 1.90). Maternal employment seemed to reduce the risk of both outcomes but adjusted odds ratios were no longer significant for registration. After adjusting for higher order confounders, single parents and reordered families were both at higher risk of registration. Reported domestic violence increased the risk of investigation and registration but this was no longer significant after adjusting for higher order variables. Low birthweight children were at higher risk of registration as were those whose parents reported few positive attributes of their babies.
This study supports previous research in the field demonstrating that a wide range of factors in the parental background, socio-economic and family environments affect the risk of child maltreatment. By combining factors within a comprehensive ecological framework, we have demonstrated that the strongest risks are from socio-economic deprivation and from factors in the parents’ own background and that parental background factors are largely, but not entirely, mediated through their impact on socio-economic factors.
Spanish-language abstract not available at time of publication.
Analyser les facteurs multiples qui favorisent le risque de maltraitance chez les jeunes enfants dans un cadre théorique global.
La recherche est basée sur l’étude d’une cohorte importante au Royaume Uni, “l’Etude Longitudinale des Parents et des Enfants de l’Avon”. Sur les 14256 enfants qui ont participé à l’étude, 293 ont été signalés aux services sociaux pour suspicion de maltraitance et 115 ont été inscrits sur les registres de la protection locale infantile avant leur 6éme anniversaire. Les renseignements sur ces enfants ont été obtenus d’aprés les observations obstétricales et une série de questionnaires parentaux remplis pendant la grossesse et les 3 premiers mois de la vie. Les facteurs de risque ont été analysés en utilisant une analyse hiérarchique vers une régression logistique.
Dans l’analyse hiérarchique à pas sucessifs, les jeunes parents, ceux avec un bas niveau d’éducation, et ceux avec passé psychiatrique ou antécédents de maltraitance infantile étaient plus susceptibles d’être signalés pour maltraitance, ou d’avoir un enfant inscrit sur le registre de protection infantile, avec des rapports de risque d’enregstrement allant de 1,86 à 4,96. En étudiant l’importance relative des différents paramètres, on a trouvé les plus hauts risques dans les indicateurs de carence (3,24 pour le signalement et 11,02 pour l’enregistrement, aprés analyse des facteurs du contexte parental). Une mauvaise insertion sociale augmentait le risque à la fois de signalement (rapport de risque ajusté de 1,93) ou d’enregistrement (rapport de risque ajusté de 1,90). Le travail maternel semblait réduire le risque des deux éventualités mais les rapports de risque ajustés n’étaient plus significatifs pour l’enregistrement. Aprés analyse plus élaborée des paramètres, les familles monoparentales et recomposées étaient toutes les deux davantage à risque d’enregistrement. La constatation de violence domestique augmentait le risque de signalement et d’enregistrement mais ceci n’était plus significatif aprés analyse plus fine. Les enfants avec poids de naissance bas avaient un plus grand risque d’enregistrement que ceux dont les parents constataient peu de caractéristiques positives.
Cette étude confirme des recherches antérieures en montrant qu’un large éventail de facteurs dans le contexte parental, l’environnement familial et socio-économique influe sur le risque de maltraitance infantile. En associant les facteurs dans un cadre environnemental global, nous avons démontré que les risques les plus élevés proviennent d’une carence socio-économique et de facteurs liés au propre passé des parents et que les facteurs du contexte parental sont en grande partie, mais pas entièrement influencés par leur retentissement sur les facteurs socio-économiques.
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An epidemiological study of abused children and their families in the united kingdom between 1977 and 1982

Abstract

Résumé

Non-Accidental Injury to Children

Non-Accidental Injury to Children: Reports from Area Review Committees

Child Abuse: Central Register Systems

Population Estimates 1981 PPI

Trends in Child Abuse

British Births 1970

Birth Statistics 1983

Born Illegitimate: Social and Educational Implications