Treatment of child neglect: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
Child neglect is the most common type of child maltreatment. Our objective was to systematically evaluate the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of child neglect treatment programs, including those focused on victims of childhood neglect and (or) their caregivers.


METHODS
We comprehensively searched the Medline, Psycinfo, and Eric databases from January 1980 to May 2003. Two authors independently reviewed 54 studies that met inclusion criteria. Fourteen articles met our design criterion and were assessed for their methodological quality according to guidelines developed by the US Preventive Services Task Force.


RESULTS
Of the 14 studies included in the review, 2 were rated as good, and 3 were rated as fair. We found evidence that 2 specific types of play therapy and a therapeutic day treatment program had beneficial effects for children. Further, parents and children in families where neglect had occurred showed improvement with multisystemic therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Rigorous studies of treatments for neglected children and their families are lacking. Well-designed and well-conducted evaluations are urgently required to identify effective treatments, which should then be made available to children and their caregivers.
Allin
Heather
H
Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Ontario.
Wathen
C Nadine
CN
MacMillan
Harriet
H
D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005196:Family Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010989:Play Therapy; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D013598:Systems Theory