Sep 7, 2006
A substantial percentage of young U.S. adults say they suffered some form of neglect or abuse as children, researchers reported Tuesday….
The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that child maltreatment — in the form of abuse or neglect — is common among U.S. children, and the consequences can be serious….
Though studies have been investigating child abuse and neglect for years, the true scope of the problem, including its long-term consequences, has not been fully clear, the lead author of the new report told Reuters Health.
“It’s a hard thing to measure well,” said Dr. Jon M. Hussey of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Data based on cases reported to child welfare services, for example, capture only a portion of the problem, he explained.
For their study, Hussey and his colleagues used data from a national survey that followed thousands of U.S. adolescents through young adulthood. As adults, they reported whether they’d ever suffered any of several types of child maltreatment.
The citation to the Pediatrics article is
Hussey JM, Chang JJ, Kotch JB. Child maltreatment in the United States: prevalence, risk factors, and adolescent health consequences. Pediatrics. 2006 Sep;118(3):933-42.
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