Screening families with young children for child maltreatment potential

The incidence of child maltreatment in the United States is increasing. According to the third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3), the number of abused and neglected children doubled between the years 1986 and 1993 to 2.8 million (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). This same study found that the number of children who were seriously injured quadrupled during this period of time to nearly 570,000. Conservative estimates suggest that 10% to 20% of children under 12 years of age experience physical or sexual abuse or neglect. In over 80% of these circumstances, the perpetrator is a family member. Risk indicators have been identified that significantly increase the likelihood of abuse or neglect of children. Interventions that reduce these risk factors have been found to be associated with a decreased incidence of abuse and neglect (Andrews, 1994; Barber-Madden, Cohn, & Scholesser, 1988; Garbarino, 1986; Helfer, 1987). However, existing risk assessment or intervention guides for use with families of children under the age of 3 years are not concise enough for use in a busy primary care setting. For this reason, the Parenting Maltreatment Risk and Intervention Protocol was designed to aid in the identification of families with children under the age of 3 who are at risk for child abuse and neglect and to guide initial intervention, referral, and follow-up care.