Do Early Childhood Interventions Prevent Child Maltreatment?

Abstract

We reviewed the empirical evidence on whether early-childhood primary prevention programs can reduce rates of child abuse and neglect. Fifteen studies of 14 programs for children ages birth to 5 years were completed from 1990 to 2007 and assessed impacts with methodological rigor. All but one of the programs intervened from birth to age 3 through home visits, parent education classes, or the provision of health services. The weighted average effect size of program participation was a 2.9 percentage-point reduction in maltreatment (6.6% vs. 9.5%), which is equivalent to a 31% reduction in the rate of maltreatment and a fifth of a standard deviation. Of the five programs showing significant reductions in substantiated rates of child maltreatment, three provide strong evidence of preventive effects. Only the Child-Parent Centers and the Nurse Family Partnership assessed longer-term preventive effects. Common elements of these effective programs included implementation by professional staff, relatively high dosage and intensity, and comprehensiveness of scope. The major conclusion is that the evidence base for programs in early childhood to prevent child maltreatment remains relatively weak. To advance the field, more longer term studies of a variety of intervention models are needed.

Traumatic events, perceived stress and health in women with fibromyalgia and healthy controls

“…For example, child abuse may be a type of abuse that potentially has a greater cumulative impact than adult abuse (Nemeroff, 2004;Weber & Reynolds, 2004). If so, then interventions focused on the prevention of abuse or support for abused children may help reduce the risk of ongoing distress and possibly the development of FM symptoms in adulthood B. W. Smith et al Traumatic, Stress and Health in Fibromyalgia (Reynolds, Mathieson, & Topitzes, 2009;Widom et al, 2008).…”

Application of a child abuse prevention programme in an educational context. [Aplicación de un programa de prevención del maltrato infantil en el contexto educativo]

“…Most evaluations of prevention initiatives have suffered significant methodological limitations (Reynolds, Mathieson & Topitzes, 2009;Topping & Barron, 2009). Therefore, our programme aims to be an open and adaptable method which can allow further development and encourage new, better co-ordinated and more effective intervention and prevention proposals.…”

Les stratégies d’intervention offertes aux jeunes mères sont-elles efficaces pour prévenir la maltraitance envers leurs enfants?

“…Un possible biais de surveillance est aussi à prendre en considération, tel que rapporté par l'une des études retenues (Dumont et al, 2008) et d'autres (Olds, Henderson, Kitzman et Cole, 1995;Reynolds, Mathieson et Topitzes, 2009). La surveillance réfère à la probabilité plus élevée que les familles participant à un programme fassent l'objet d'un signalement, comparativement aux groupes contrôle.…”