Child maltreatment is a significant public health concern that affects children's health and well-being throughout their life. Children who are maltreated are at an increased risk of developing a disability or delay and are more vulnerable to a range of mental health-related problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, criminality,…

Background: As constant figures in children's lives, parents are key in protecting children from sexual abuse. One barrier to reaching parents is that the topic can be difficult to broach and is sensitive in nature. Such barriers can interfere with implementation and fidelity of evidence-based prevention strategies that are focused on reducing…

This brief, prepared as part of Morrison Institute for Public Policy's Spotlight on Arizona's Kids project, outlines evidence-based services that help reduce or prevent child abuse and neglect, including home visiting, parent education, domestic violence services, and substance abuse treatment.

Background: More than half of the children in the world experience some form of interpersonal violence every year. As compared with high-income countries, policy responses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are limited due to resource constraints and paucity of evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence against children in…

Traditionally defined, Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, include experiences of child maltreatment and other family problems such as domestic violence and parental incarceration. These ACEs are common, frequently co-occur, and are associated with a whole host of negative social outcomes, health risk behaviors, psychiatric and substance use…

When low-income women become parents for the first time, they often need support, education and encouragement to be the best parent they can be. They truly want to succeed. Desire, unfortunately, is not enough. These women are usually most open to health care assistance, parenting tools, and a therapeutic relationship with a community health…

Evidence-based prevention and wellbeing programs offer a great deal of promise to support the health and wellbeing of North Carolina children, youth, families, and communities. In fact, many funders and service providers in North Carolina are shifting towards models that have demonstrated positive impact through rigorous evaluations. However,…

Purpose: Violence against children increases in adolescence, but there is a research and practice gap in research-supported child abuse prevention for the adolescent years. A pilot program for low-resource settings was developed in collaboration with nongovernmental organizations, government, and academics in South Africa, using research-supported…

Objective: This mixed-methods process evaluation examined the feasibility of a parenting program delivered by community facilitators to reduce the risk of child maltreatment in low-income families with children aged 3-8 years in Cape Town, South Africa (N = 68). Method: Quantitative measures included attendance registers, fidelity checklists,…

Children constitute a significant proportion of any nation's population and they are the inheritors of the society. In Nigeria, children hold a great thrust for the future. This paper examined various methods by adult educators in curbing violence among children through various adult education programmes such as literacy education, fundamental…

We reviewed research that has evaluated prevention programs for child abuse and neglect. A few universal educational and parenting programs (e.g., abusive head trauma educational programs, enhanced pediatric care interventions) have been found to be effective. Moreover, a few selective home visitation programs (e.g., the Nurse-Family Partnership…

Parent education programs have been shown to be effective family-based interventions for preventing child abuse and neglect; however, to ensure their effectiveness, they must be continually evaluated. The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the Nurturing Parenting Program for…

Today, levels of mistreatment of children are internationally reported as having reached epidemic proportions. Throughout recorded history babies and young children have suffered acts of violence by parents, care providers and others. However, "some believe that, for the first time in history, we are beginning to face the true prevalence and…

Fred Wulczyn explores how data on the incidence and distribution of child maltreatment shed light on planning and implementing maltreatment prevention programs. He begins by describing and differentiating among the three primary sources of national data on maltreatment. Wulczyn then points out several important patterns in the data. The first…

Deborah Daro and Kenneth Dodge observe that efforts to prevent child abuse have historically focused on directly improving the skills of parents who are at risk for or engaged in maltreatment. But, as experts increasingly recognize that negative forces within a community can overwhelm even well-intentioned parents, attention is shifting toward…