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Risk and Protective Factors for Child Maltreatment: a Review

  • Injury Epidemiology (S Marshall, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review was to synthesize the empirical literature regarding key risk and protective factors for child maltreatment at each level of the socioecological model and to identify directions for future research and practice.

Recent Findings

Prior research has largely focused on risk and protective factors at the individual and interpersonal levels of the socioecological model. More recently, research has begun to examine risk and protective factors at the community and societal levels, with results suggesting that programmatic and policy interventions that reduce risk and enhance protection at these levels are promising primary prevention strategies for child maltreatment.

Summary

Future research should continue to focus on risk and protective factors at the community and societal levels with the aim of building the evidence base for population-wide prevention strategies. Such strategies have the potential to create contexts in which families and children thrive.

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    Funding

    This work was supported in part by an award to the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center from the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49CE003092), and by the UNC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Science, Education, and Practice, funded by an award to the Department of Maternal and Child Health from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (T76MC00004).

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    1. Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

      Anna E. Austin, Alexandria M. Lesak & Meghan E. Shanahan

    2. Injury Prevention Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

      Anna E. Austin & Meghan E. Shanahan

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    1. Anna E. Austin
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    Correspondence to Anna E. Austin.

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    Austin, A.E., Lesak, A.M. & Shanahan, M.E. Risk and Protective Factors for Child Maltreatment: a Review. Curr Epidemiol Rep 7, 334–342 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40471-020-00252-3

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