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Child maltreatment cases in Ontario and British Columbia during the pandemic: A comparative study
Kelvin Bo Him Cho1, Fahra Rajabali2, Shazya Karmali2
1Public Health Ontario, Canada.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted child maltreatment risks from public to private settings, with changes in assault types and perpetrators observed in Ontario. Further research is needed to understand these evolving patterns.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Criminology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges to families, potentially affecting violence-related injury rates in children.
- Understanding these impacts is crucial for child protection and public health initiatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced violence against children and youth.
- To compare injury contexts presenting to emergency departments before and during the pandemic.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of emergency department (ED) data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) in Ontario and British Columbia (Jan 2018-Mar 2022).
- Comparison of case distributions and coding of narrative fields for maltreatment details before and during the pandemic.
- Statistical analysis (chi-square, proportional t-tests) to assess significant differences between time periods and provinces.
Main Results:
- Emergency department cases decreased significantly in Ontario, with no significant change in British Columbia.
- Ontario saw a decrease in physical assaults and an increase in sexual assaults.
- Both provinces indicated a shift in child maltreatment risk from public spaces to homes, with increased assaults by family members and acquaintances in Ontario.
Conclusions:
- The pandemic may have altered children's social interactions, leading to changes in maltreatment types, perpetrators, and settings.
- Increased awareness and targeted interventions are necessary to address evolving child abuse and neglect patterns.
- Limitations include a small case number in British Columbia, necessitating cautious interpretation.
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges for children and families that may have inadvertently impacted violence-related injury rates.
Objective:
To investigate the influence of the pandemic on violence against children and youth by comparing the context of injuries presenting to hospital.
Participants And Setting:
Children under 18 years of age presenting to emergency departments (EDs) participating in the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) in Ontario (ON) and British Columbia (BC) between January 2018 and March 2022.
Methods:
Descriptive statistics were used to compare case distributions before and during the pandemic. Narrative text fields were coded for maltreatment type, child and perpetrator details, setting, substance use, and authority involvement. Statistical significance of differences between time periods and between ON and BC were assessed using chi-square and proportional t-tests.
Results:
Overall, ED cases significantly decreased during the pandemic in ON, while BC saw no significant changes. Ontario reported a notable decrease in physical assaults and a rise in sexual assaults. Both provinces showed shifts in child maltreatment risk from public spaces to homes. In ON, physical assaults by immediate family members and sexual assaults by non-family acquaintances increased. The small BC dataset limited definitive conclusions.
Conclusions:
There may have been a shift in the risk profile during the pandemic that altered children's interaction circles, changing the types of maltreatment, perpetrators, and settings for abuse. Despite some key limitations including an overall small number of cases, there is still a need for increased awareness and targeted interventions to prevent future cases.
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