Therapy implications of child abuse in multi-risk families

Our aim is to critique Australian child maltreatment policy, outline abuse trends and provide data on family risk factors.

We identified policy gaps and reviewed family profiles within selective child maltreatment databases. Data sources included international and Australian literature, Queensland Department of Child Safety reports and a research clinical database.

Data reviewed suggest that a pattern of co-occurring complex multiple system family problems characterize substantiated abuse cases.

The presence of multiple family problems suggests the need for a new treatment paradigm. Multisystemic Therapy for child physical abuse and neglect is an evidence-based intervention that matches the therapeutic needs of such families.