title: [Epidemiology of risks and child maltreatment in early childhood: a pilot study].
abstract: There is a lack of prevalence data of child maltreatment and neglect in German speaking countries. The aim of this pilot study was to develop a questionnaire as a generally useable method for surveys of early child maltreatment and to test its feasibility and usefulness. The pilot study of this methodology would also give a first indication of the prevalence of risk factors and of child maltreatment itself. The study was carried out in 21 day-care centres in Vorarlberg, Austria. The questionnaire was judged as very user-friendly and useable. Prevalence was 5.3 % for neglect and 1.2 % for abuse in the study sample. The results demonstrate that systematic data collection in the field of youth welfare is practicable in German speaking countries. In addition, day-care centres allow easy access to data collection. Further psychometric testing of the questionnaire with normative data samples and across different professional groups is required.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie/Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Ulm, Ulm. anne-katrin.kuenster@uniklinik-ulm.de
authors.forename: Anne Katrin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Künster
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wucher
authors.forename: Leonore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thurn
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kindler
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ziegenhain
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires