title: Interventions to prevent child maltreatment and associated impairment.
abstract: Although a broad range of programmes for prevention of child maltreatment exist, the effectiveness of most of the programmes is unknown. Two specific home-visiting programmes-the Nurse-Family Partnership (best evidence) and Early Start-have been shown to prevent child maltreatment and associated outcomes such as injuries. One population-level parenting programme has shown benefits, but requires further assessment and replication. Additional in-hospital and clinic strategies show promise in preventing physical abuse and neglect. However, whether school-based educational programmes prevent child sexual abuse is unknown, and there are currently no known approaches to prevent emotional abuse or exposure to intimate-partner violence. A specific parent-training programme has shown benefits in preventing recurrence of physical abuse; no intervention has yet been shown to be effective in preventing recurrence of neglect. A few interventions for neglected children and mother-child therapy for families with intimate-partner violence show promise in improving behavioural outcomes. Cognitive-behavioural therapy for sexually abused children with symptoms of post-traumatic stress shows the best evidence for reduction in mental-health conditions. For maltreated children, foster care placement can lead to benefits compared with young people who remain at home or those who reunify from foster care; enhanced foster care shows benefits for children. Future research should ensure that interventions are assessed in controlled trials, using actual outcomes of maltreatment and associated health measures.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and of Pediatrics, and Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Harriet L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Macmillan
authors.forename: C Nadine
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Wathen
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barlow
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fergusson
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
authors.forename: Heather N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Taussig
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004493:Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010287:Parent-Child Relations