Each year, child protective services receive reports of child abuse and neglect involving six million children, and many more go unreported. The long-term human and fiscal consequences of child abuse and neglect are not relegated to the victims themselves -- they also impact their families, future relationships, and society. In 1993, the National Research Council (NRC) issued the report, Under-standing Child Abuse and Neglect, which provided an overview of the research on child abuse and neglect. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research updates the 1993 report and provides new recommendations to respond to this public health challenge. According to this report, while there has been great progress in child abuse and neglect research, a coordinated, national research infrastructure with high-level federal support needs to be established and implemented immediately.

New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research recommends an actionable framework to guide and support future child abuse and neglect research. This report calls for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to child abuse and neglect research that examines factors related to both children and adults across physical, mental, and behavioral health domains--including those in child welfare, economic support, criminal justice, education, and health care systems--and assesses the needs of a variety of subpopulations. It should also clarify the causal pathways related to child abuse and neglect and, more importantly, assess efforts to interrupt these pathways. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research identifies four areas to look to in developing a coordinated research enterprise: a national strategic plan, a national surveillance system, a new generation of researchers, and changes in the federal and state programmatic and policy response.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE ON CHILD MALTREATMENT RESEARCH, POLICY, AND PRACTICE FOR THE NEXT DECADE: PHASE II
• Acknowledgments
• Reviewers
• Summary
  • DESCRIBING THE PROBLEM
  • CAUSES
  • CONSEQUENCES
  • THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
  • EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS AND SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
  • RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
  • POLICY
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 1. Introduction
  • THE 1993 REPORT
  • TRENDS SINCE 1993
  • THE CURRENT STUDY
  • STUDY APPROACH
  • RESEARCH ADVANCES IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
  • A SYSTEMS FRAMEWORK FOR CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
  • THE UNIQUE ROLE OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION
  • CONCLUSION
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
  • REFERENCES
• 2. Describing the Problem
  • DEFINITIONS
  • INCIDENCE RATES AND THE PROBLEM OF UNDERREPORTING
  • INCIDENCE TRENDS
  • DETERMINATION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 3. Causality
  • ESTABLISHING A CAUSAL CONNECTION
  • CANDIDATE EXPLANATORY FACTORS FOR CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
  • PROTECTIVE FACTORS
  • METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect
  • CASCADING CONSEQUENCES
  • BACKGROUND
  • NEUROBIOLOGICAL OUTCOMES
  • COGNITIVE, PSYCHOSOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES
  • HEALTH OUTCOMES
  • ADOLESCENT AND ADULT OUTCOMES
  • INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN OUTCOMES
  • ECONOMIC BURDEN
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 5. The Child Welfare System
  • OVERVIEW OF THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
  • MAJOR POLICY SHIFTS IN CHILD WELFARE SINCE 1993
  • SYSTEM-LEVEL REFORMS INTENDED TO IMPROVE PRACTICE AND OUTCOMES
  • RESEARCH ON KEY POLICY AND PRACTICE REFORMS
  • FOCUS ON WELL-BEING OUTCOMES
  • ISSUES THAT REMAIN TO BE ADDRESSED
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 6. Interventions and Service Delivery Systems
  • TREATMENT PROGRAMS
  • PREVENTION STRATEGIES
  • COMMON ISSUES IN IMPROVING PROGRAM IMPACTS
  • BUILDING AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF CARE
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 7. Research Challenges and Infrastructure
  • COMPONENTS OF THE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
  • Multidisciplinary and Multimethod Perspectives
  • The Role of Cultural Factors
  • Longitudinal Studies, Surveillance, and Registries
  • Research Funding
  • CHALLENGES IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RESEARCH
  • EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE AN INTEGRATED CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 8. Child Abuse and Neglect Policy
  • THE POLICY LANDSCAPE
  • FEDERAL LAWS AND POLICIES
  • STATE LAWS AND POLICIES
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 9. Recommendations
  • GUIDING PRINCIPLES
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • FINAL THOUGHTS
  • REFERENCES
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A Workshop Open Session Agendas
  • Appendix B Research Recommendations and Priorities from the 1993 National Research Council Report Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Appendix C Biosketches of Committee Members

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. HHSP23320110010YC between the National Academy of Sciences and the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine) and NRC (National Research Council). 2014. New directions in child abuse and neglect research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.