title: The whole picture: Child maltreatment experiences of youths who were physically abused.
abstract: The purpose of the current study was to describe the maltreatment experiences of a sample of urban youths identified as physically abused using the Maltreatment Case Record Abstraction Instrument (MCRAI). The sample (n=303) of 9-12 year old youths was recruited from active child protective services (CPS) cases in 2002-2005, and five years of child protective service records were reviewed. The demographic and maltreatment experiences of MCRAI-identified youths with physical abuse were compared to maltreated youths who were not physically abused and youths who were identified as physically abused by CPS when they entered this longitudinal study. T-tests and chi-square tests were used to compare the demographics and maltreatment experiences of the sample MCRAI-identified physically abused to the sample MCRAI-identified as nonphysically abused maltreated by gender. Of the total sample, 156 (51%) were identified by MCRAI as physically abused and 96.8% of these youth also experienced other types of maltreatment. Whereas youth with the initial CPS identification of physical abuse showed little co-occurrence (37.7%) with other forms of maltreatment. The MCRAI-identified physically abused youths had a significantly higher mean number of CPS reports and higher mean number of incidents of maltreatment than MCRAI-identified nonphysically maltreated youths. Lifeline plots of case record history from the time of first report to CPS to entry into the study found substantial individual variability in maltreatment experiences for both boys and girls. Thus, obtaining maltreatment information from a single report vastly underestimates the prevalence of physical abuse and the co-occurrence of other maltreatment types.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Clinics, 902 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016, USA.
authors.forename: Kristopher I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 West 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Janet U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Schneiderman
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 1150 S. Olive Street, Suite 360, Room S, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Negriff
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 West 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brinkmann
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 West 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Penelope K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Trickett
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D000066550:Physical Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D014504:Urban Health
keywords: Case record abstraction; Child maltreatment; Child protective services; Physical abuse