The stability of child abuse reports : a longitudinal study of the reporting behaviour of young adults
Fergusson, David M.
The stability of child abuse reports : a longitudinal study of the reporting behaviour of young adults Fergusson, D.M. (David Murray); Horwood, Leonard John; Woodward, Lianne J. - 2000
Psychological Medicine 30 (3) May 2000 : 529-544
The study discussed in this article used longitudinal report data from a birth cohort of young people studied in the Christchurch Health and Development Study. Data on physical and sexual abuse was used to examine the stability and consistency of retrospective abuse reports. Questions about childhood exposure to physical punishment and sexual abuse were asked at ages 18 and 21 years. The sample members were also assessed on measures of psychiatric disorder and suicidal behaviour. The authors examined the extent to which stability and instability in reports of abuse were related to the presence of psychiatric disorder both prior to, and following the reporting of abuse. The results indicate substantial unreliability in the reporting of child abuse. This arose because those who were subject to abuse often provided false negative reports. The authors suggest that the consequences of the errors appear to be that estimates of abuse prevalence based on a single report are likely to seriously underestimate the true prevalence of abuse; while estimates of the relative risk of psychiatric adjustment problems conditional on abuse appear to be robust to the effects of reporting errors.
0033-2917
CHILD PROTECTION
Christchurch Health and Development Study
MENTAL HEALTH
STATISTICS
CHILD ABUSE
NEW ZEALAND
The stability of child abuse reports : a longitudinal study of the reporting behaviour of young adults Fergusson, D.M. (David Murray); Horwood, Leonard John; Woodward, Lianne J. - 2000
Psychological Medicine 30 (3) May 2000 : 529-544
The study discussed in this article used longitudinal report data from a birth cohort of young people studied in the Christchurch Health and Development Study. Data on physical and sexual abuse was used to examine the stability and consistency of retrospective abuse reports. Questions about childhood exposure to physical punishment and sexual abuse were asked at ages 18 and 21 years. The sample members were also assessed on measures of psychiatric disorder and suicidal behaviour. The authors examined the extent to which stability and instability in reports of abuse were related to the presence of psychiatric disorder both prior to, and following the reporting of abuse. The results indicate substantial unreliability in the reporting of child abuse. This arose because those who were subject to abuse often provided false negative reports. The authors suggest that the consequences of the errors appear to be that estimates of abuse prevalence based on a single report are likely to seriously underestimate the true prevalence of abuse; while estimates of the relative risk of psychiatric adjustment problems conditional on abuse appear to be robust to the effects of reporting errors.
0033-2917
CHILD PROTECTION
Christchurch Health and Development Study
MENTAL HEALTH
STATISTICS
CHILD ABUSE
NEW ZEALAND