On the threshold of disclosure. The effects of a mass media field experiment

To assess whether the number of disclosures of child abuse changed as a result of a prevention strategy on a national scale in a West-European country. The child abuse involved child sexual and physical abuse, both ongoing and past.

In order to assess possible intervention effects, changes in calling the Child Line were measured. For this, a 4 year longitudinal design, starting before the intervention and ending 2 and 1/2 years after it was used (N = 3,117 disclosures). In addition, data were collected from the Dutch Telecom and a newely developed Child Abuse Form (N = 1,227). Finally, two measures were introduced, the disclosure coefficient and the relative disclosure coefficient.

Most calls were silent calls, a phenomenon that deserves more attention in disclosure research. Compared to pre-intervention data, the amount of disclosures almost tripled during the intervention and was even further enhanced in the post-intervention and follow-up. In nine out of 10 cases, ongoing abuse was disclosed. Marked differences between child physical abuse and child sexual abuse were observed.

It is concluded that mass media communication, if well implemented, can positively influence the process of disclosure of ongoing child abuse.