University of Edinburgh, Moray House School of Education & Sport Holyrood Rd, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, United Kingdom.
McGill University, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology Education Building, 3700 McTavish St, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
Child Abuse Negl. 2022 Nov;133:105824. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105824. Epub 2022 Aug 12.
Children's initial reports often play a key role in the identification of maltreatment, and a sizeable amount of scientific research has examined how children disclose sexual and physical abuse. Although neglect constitutes a large proportion of maltreatment experiences, relatively little attention has been directed toward understanding whether and how children disclose neglect. The overarching aim of the present study was to document this process by comparing disclosure patterns in cases of neglect to those in cases of sexual abuse.
Redacted jurisdiction reports (N = 136) of substantiated dependency cases of neglect (n = 71) and sexual abuse (n = 65) in 4- to 17-year-olds were coded for why maltreatment was suspected, and for children's perceived awareness and disclosure of the maltreatment.
Neglect was most often initially suspected via contact with emergency services (e.g., police, emergency medical services), whereas sexual abuse was most often initially suspected as a result of children's statements. Children evidenced greater perceived awareness of sexual abuse than neglect and were more likely to disclose the former in their first investigative interview. Perceived awareness was further associated with a higher likelihood of children's statements initiating discovery of maltreatment and disclosing in the first investigative interview.
Children may benefit from greater knowledge about their needs for safety, supervision, and provision in the home, which could increase the likelihood they would disclose neglect. Such, in turn, could lead to earlier interventions for children and families.
儿童的初次报告在识别虐待行为方面常常起着关键作用，大量科学研究已经探讨了儿童如何披露性虐待和身体虐待。尽管忽视构成了虐待经历的很大一部分，但相对较少关注如何理解儿童是否以及如何披露忽视。本研究的总体目标是通过比较忽视案件和性虐待案件的披露模式来记录这一过程。
对 4 至 17 岁儿童中已证实的忽视（n=71）和性虐待（n=65）依赖性案件的删减管辖权报告进行了编码，以了解虐待行为被怀疑的原因，以及儿童对虐待行为的感知意识和披露情况。
忽视最初通常是通过与紧急服务部门（如警察、紧急医疗服务）接触而被怀疑，而性虐待最初通常是由于儿童的陈述而被怀疑。与忽视相比，儿童对性虐待的感知意识更强，并且更有可能在首次调查性采访中披露前者。感知意识与儿童陈述更有可能引发虐待行为的发现以及在首次调查性采访中披露的可能性更高相关。
儿童可能需要更多关于他们在家中安全、监督和供养的需求的知识，这可能会增加他们披露忽视的可能性。反过来，这可能会导致为儿童和家庭提供更早的干预。
