Psychological maltreatment: Definition and reporting barriers among American professionals in the field of child abuse.

BACKGROUND

Despite reliable definitions and evidence of harm to children, psychological maltreatment (PM) is significantly less reported to Child Protective Services than physical or sexual abuse in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to identify factors influencing identification and intent to report psychological maltreatment.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample was comprised of membership of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), a multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the field of child maltreatment.

METHODS

An anonymous online survey was administered with a 39 % (N = 538) response rate.

RESULTS

Only 4 of the 18 items, preselected by experts as representing all PM subtypes in the APSAC- endorsed definition (Hart, Brassard, Baker, & Chiel, 2019), were identified by most respondents as definitely PM. Most respondents believed that PM was associated with harmful outcomes "sometimes" or "mostly." Respondents revealed an intent to report to CPS only 4 of the 18 PM behaviors. Identification of a behavior as PM and as harmful predicted intent to report, explaining between 8-11 percent of the variance.

CONCLUSION

Professionals in the field of maltreatment need more training on identification and reporting of PM. A model definition of PM should be developed in order to increase reliability of identification of psychological maltreatment.