Terra Incognita? Efforts in „charting" the size of child maltreatment in Europe (Symposium): 1) Self-reported Child Maltreatment in the KiD 0-3 German National Prevalence Study of Psychosocial Burdens in Early Childhood

Objectives: Children growing up in families facing high levels of psychosocial burden are at increased risk of child maltreatment. In Germany, where there is a paucity of population level data on risk factors and incidents of... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: Children growing up in families facing high levels of psychosocial burden are at increased risk of child maltreatment. In Germany, where there is a paucity of population level data on risk factors and incidents of child abuse and neglect, the "Kinder in Deutschland" KiD 0-3 representative prevalence study of psychosocial burdens was conducted in 2015. The aim of the paper is to present results on self-reported child maltreatment from this study. 

Method: In 2015 data were collected from 8.000 families with at least one child aged 0-3 years. A second wave including 1.700 families with agreement in further examination will be conducted in spring 2017. Families originally were recruited via 275 randomly chosen paediatric practices. The risk inventory (self-completion) has been compiled on the basis of factors identified in the literature and existing instruments. A 5-Item measure on incidents of child maltreatment was adapted from the British national survey on child abuse and neglect (NSPCC; Radford et al., 2011).

Results: The rate of missing data on self reported incidents was low (<3%), false negative answering could not be detected. The prevalence rates were: child abuse 1,8%, child neglect 0,9% and domestic violence 2,7%. Data will be presented regarding to several risk factors predicting the occurrence of child maltreatment (child, parental and family characteristics) and family’s usage of early intervention and child welfare services to prevent further abuse and neglect. 

Conclusions: The KiD 0-3 national prevalence study used a new approach in this area of research in Germany by recruiting families via paediatricians instead of official population registers. By this sampling strategy, a feasible number of socially disadvantaged families were included in the sample. Results and experiences were important for the field of studying risk epidemiology in early childhood and for the better planning of early prevention services.