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Predictors of Childhood Injury in Children Reported to Child Protective Services
Amanda N Barczyk1, Kristian Jones, Sarah V Duzinski
1Dell Children's Trauma and Injury Research Center, Austin, Texas (Drs Barczyk and Lawson and Ms Duzinski); and The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work, Austin, Texas (Mr Jones).
Insights
Childhood injuries are predicted by social and environmental factors. Understanding these predictors is key to developing effective prevention strategies for at-risk children.
Area of Science:
- Child development
- Public health
- Injury prevention
Background:
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to lifelong negative health outcomes.
- Children with maltreatment allegations have double the rate of unintentional injury deaths.
- Injury, not just death, is a significant outcome of maltreatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine predictors of injury in children reported to Child Protective Services (CPS).
- To utilize the ecological-developmental framework to understand injury risk factors.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) data.
- Examined child characteristics, caregiver factors, family functioning, social skills, community, and systems of care.
Main Results:
- Lack of conversational cue recognition increased injury likelihood (OR=.37).
- Having a good neighborhood play space correlated with increased injury risk (OR=1.57).
- Utilizing educational services was associated with higher injury rates (OR=2.06).
Conclusions:
- Identifying injury predictors is crucial for targeted prevention.
- Interventions should address the specific needs of children in CPS care.
- Increased awareness of prevention strategies can reduce childhood injuries.
Background:
Adverse childhood experiences, such as child maltreatment, have been shown to result in negative health outcomes throughout an individual's life. Previous research has found that children with a prior allegation of maltreatment die due to unintentional injuries at twice the rate of children who were not reported to Child Protective Services, however, death is only one outcome of injury and many unintentional injuries do not result in death.
Methods:
This secondary analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) data examined predictors of injury in children whose family has been reported to CPS utilizing the ecological-developmental framework theoretical domains which guided LONGSCAN: child characteristics, family/caregiver characteristics, parental and family functioning, extrafamilial relationship skills, community ecology, child outcomes, and systems of care factors.
Results:
Logistic regression modeling showed that the likelihood of childhood injury significantly increased for those children who did not recognize or appropriately respond to cues of ending a conversation (OR=.37), caregiver reported child always has a good place to play in their neighborhood (OR=1.57), and child utilized educational services (OR=2.06).
Conclusion:
Understanding the predictors of injury is necessary to implement injury prevention interventions targeting the unique needs of this vulnerable population and increase awareness of prevention strategies to reduce childhood injuries.
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