Infant victimization in a nationally representative sample.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this research were to (1) obtain estimates of child maltreatment and other forms of personal, witnessing of, and indirect victimization among children aged 0 to 1 year in the United States and (2) examine associations between infant victimization exposure and the infant's level of emotional and behavioral symptoms.


METHODS
The study is based on a cross-sectional national telephone survey that included caregivers of a sample of 503 children under 2 years of age.


RESULTS
Nearly one-third of the sample of infants (31.6%) had experienced some form of personal, witnessing, or indirect form of victimization. The rate of infant maltreatment by caregivers (2.1%) was significantly lower than among older preschool-aged children. However, the rate of infant assault by siblings was considerable at 15.4%. The greatest risk of assault occurred in households with young siblings; nearly 35% of the infants with a sibling aged 2 to 3 years were assaulted in the year before the interview. Witnessing family violence was also relatively common among the infants (9.5%). Victimization was associated with emotional and behavioral problems; sibling assault and witnessing family violence had the highest correlations with infant symptom scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study highlight the need for attention to infant victimization that considers a wider array of victimization sources and a broader scope of prevention efforts than has been typical in the child-maltreatment field.
Turner
Heather A
HA
Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. haturner@cisunix.unh.edu
Finkelhor
David
D
Ormrod
Richard
R
Hamby
Sherry L
SL
D000367:Age Factors; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D035781:Siblings; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology