Personal Barriers to Reporting Child Maltreatment Among Early Childhood Education and Care Professionals

Abstract

The current study examined personal barriers that can prevent early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals from reporting concerns of child maltreatment to child welfare services (CWS). The objectives were to identify different types of personal barriers and to examine differences in reporting according to employee characteristics. Norwegian ECEC professionals (N = 1369; 92% women; mean age, 44 years [SD = 11]) from 170 kindergartens completed e-questionnaires with 25 questions about personal barriers to reporting concerns of child maltreatment and questions about their own personal characteristics. Four barrier factors that underly the 25 different barriers were confirmed with factor analysis. The most endorsed personal barrier factor was “Negative consequences for the child,” which predicted barriers related to fear of negative consequences of reporting (e.g., to CWS). The second most important were the “Relationships” factor (barriers related to concerns about relationships with the child or parents), and the “Competence” factor (fear of misunderstanding and being unsure about guidelines). The least endorsed barrier factor (“Coworkers”) included fear of what superiors and coworkers might think. In general, ECEC professionals with less formal training and less work experience reported more personal barriers to reporting concerns of child maltreatment. The results are consistent with studies involving other professional groups. Better collaboration between ECEC providers and CWS is important to prevent child maltreatment. Future efforts to improve the detection and reporting of concerns of child maltreatment could consider focusing specifically on professionals with little formal training and little work experience.