Prevent Child Abuse America

As disparities in health and well-being outcomes continue to widen in the United States, despite good-willed investments in programs and services, a revolutionary shift in how we support families before they are in crisis is necessary to ensure they have what they need to be happy, healthy, and economically secure. To address these challenges, Prevent Child Abuse America developed a theory of change to address the root causes of child abuse and neglect, and balance the use of programs and systemic interventions to bring about a Primary Prevention Ecosystem to advance equitable outcomes for all children, youth, and families. As this Primary Prevention Ecosystem is realized in communities across the United States, there will be less need for the formal child welfare system as it exists today. This article describes the theory of change, the participatory methods used to develop it, and its implication for use within the broader primary prevention field.

BACKGROUND The Domestic Abuse Plan and Strategic Direction for Sexual Assault and Abuse Services set out a stronger system, prioritising the improvement of healthcare staff’s ability to identify and refer domestic abuse and sexual violence victim/survivors, as key areas for supporting workforce development. OBJECTIVE The Microsoft HoloLens 2 is an augmented reality headset that projects holographic patients (HoloPatients) into the classroom. This evaluation explored potential uses of the HoloPatients in domestic abuse and sexual violence training, as a potential survivor-centred educational initiative. METHODS In this qualitative feasibility study, frontline staff and community stakeholders from the domestic abuse, social care and law enforcement sectors were invited on three separate occasions (n=14, 12, 22) to a HoloLens demonstration which displayed nine patients. Participant feedback was obtained using post-evaluation surveys. RESULTS Survey data was analysed thematically. The HoloPatient was described as a ‘realistic’, 'adjustable’ tool which ‘creates a safe learning environment’. Uses include ‘pre-exposure preparation’ by ‘improving communication’ with the use of victim/survivor scripts. Identified as a suitable tool for workers inside and outside healthcare, including social care and law enforcement. CONCLUSIONS The HoloPatient acts as a low risk, adaptable tool, feasible for trainees to develop skills in a safe environment. This study demonstrates that professionals perceived the HoloLens as an innovative means to amplify the lived experience voice. Further research will evaluate this additional impact on trainees’ confidence and responses to victim/survivors disclosing domestic abuse and sexual violence within different disciplines, to drive improved outcomes.

Quelque abondants qu’ils soient dans les sources littéraires du bouddhisme indien, les séismes ne s’y laissent jamais réduire ou reconduire à des événements naturels et historiques, mais s’inscrivent dans un horizon « hiérohistorique ». Les tremblements de terre y font signe, célébrant les principaux événements de la biographie d’un (futur) buddha, manifestant les pouvoirs psychiques supérieurs de certains êtres (moines/nonnes, divinités) ou marquant l’approbation de la (déesse) Terre. L’intention salvifique à leur principe explique qu’ils soient perçus, sinon toujours comme agréables, du moins comme n’entraînant ni victimes ni dommages en dépit de leur caractère térébrant. Quoique largement dominante, cette interprétation voisine avec différents usages astrologiques et séismomantiques des tremblements de terre.

Economic support programs for low-income families may play an important role in preventing child abuse and neglect. In the United States, childcare subsidies are provided to low-income families who meet certain requirements to offset the high cost of childcare. States have flexibility in setting many policies related to the provision of childcare subsidies, which results in a great deal of variation in how the programs operate between states. One policy dimension on which states vary is the number of employment hours required to receive childcare subsidies. A small body of work has begun to investigate the ways in which these state policy variations might relate to child maltreatment. Using 11years of administrative data from the United States, the current study sought to estimate the relationship between two sources of variation in childcare subsidy policies: employment requirements and copayment size; and child neglect, physical abuse, and emotional abuse substantiations. The study found a nuanced relationship between required employment and neglect substantiations. Specifically, requiring some level of work was not associated with neglect substantiations, but requiring 30 hours of employment was associated with higher rates. The study did not find a relationship between copayment size and maltreatment substantiations.

When health care professionals encounter child abuse and neglect, they can experience a range of emotions, such as anger, sadness, and frustration. Such feelings can cloud judgment, compromise care, or even undermine one's capacity to complete evaluation of a child. This article discusses key ethical values of honesty, objectivity, compassion, professionalism, respect for persons, and justice, which can be used to guide one's approaches to navigating secondary trauma during and after clinical interactions with children who have suffered abuse or neglect. Strategies for coping with intense feelings, especially duringinteractions with abused and neglected children's families, are also offered herein.

What happened with child abuse and neglect during the pandemic? Emergency department and child welfare data suggest a decline in reports; however other sources of data suggest that risk for abuse and neglect remained high during COVID-19. In this commentary, the authors highlight the complicated, and at times contradictory, evidence as to what occurred with child abuse and neglect during the pandemic. The commentary concludes with suggestions for future research.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to explore connections between immigrant information behaviour and concepts of information poverty. The researchers used the scoping method to examine the immigrant populations, operational definitions, and research methods associated with information poverty. Key findings from this systematic review suggest an overreliance on non‐empirical linkages to information poverty and the need for substantiated knowledge that captures specific immigrant contexts, vulnerabilities, and interventions.

Gender minority adults experience higher rates of sexual violence (SV) than cisgender adults. How this disparity extends to youths, including perpetration rates, is unknown. To compare rates of experience and perpetration of SV by gender identity and investigate characteristics associated with odds of perpetration within gender identity categories. This cross-sectional study used baseline data from a national online longitudinal survey collected in 2018 to 2020. Eligible participants were youths ages 14 to 16 years who read English and had internet access. Data were analyzed in November 2021 and March 2022. Youth characteristics included stressors associated with being marginalized (eg, internalized transphobia), general stressors (eg, trauma not associated with experiencing SV), other marginalized statuses (eg, identifying as a girl), factors associated with protection (eg, social support), environmental characteristics (eg, community violence exposure), and risk factors associated with SV (eg, consumption of violent pornography). Self-reported rates of experiencing and perpetrating SV, defined as sexual assault, rape, attempted rape, and coercive sex, among cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary youths. Among 4193 youths in the sample (mean [SD] age, 14.8 [0.7] years), 3282 participants (78.3%) were cisgender, 329 participants (7.9%) were transgender, and 582 participants (13.9%) were nonbinary. The odds of SV perpetration were not statistically significantly different for transgender boys and girls (odds ratio [OR], 0.90; 95% CI, 0.57-1.41; P = .64) or nonbinary youths (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.54-1.12; P = .18) compared with cisgender boys and girls. By contrast, transgender boys and girls (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.83-2.91; P < .001) and nonbinary youths (OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.98-2.83; P < .001) were more than 2-fold as likely as cisgender boys and girls to report experiencing SV. Aggressive behavior was associated with higher odds of SV perpetration for transgender boys and girls (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.87; 95% CI, 0.75-4.65; P = .18) and nonbinary youths (aOR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.78-3.32; P = .20). Indications of hostile masculinity were associated with higher odds of SV perpetration among cisgender youths (ie, positive attitudes for boys to engage in rape behaviors: aOR per unit increase in score, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.07-1.25; P < .001; sexual dominance: aOR per unit increase in score, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04; P < .001) but not among transgender or nonbinary youths. These findings may suggest an important foundation for the development of inclusive, research-based SV prevention programs and methods for incorporating gender identity effectively into SV research.