A Conceptual and Epidemiological Framework for Child Maltreatment Surveillance

Prepared by:

Davide A.Wolfe PhD and Lilian Yuan MD MSc

Child Maltreatment Section
Division of Health Surveillance and Epidemiology
Health Canada HPB Bldg. #7, Tunney's Pasture
A.L. 0701D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0L2

Editors Lil Tonmyr and Gordon Phaneuf
Publication Consultant: Janet Doherty

Child Maltreatment Division Conceptual and Epidemiological framework for child maltreatment surveillance Ottawa Minister of Public work and Government services Health Canada 2001 87 Pages - (773 KB) in PDF Format

Table of Contents

Reviewers and Stakeholders

Forum on Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Issues and Options - December 14, 1999
Participants List

1 Conceptual Framework for Child Maltreatment Surveillance

• Introduction And Purpose
  • The Importance of Surveillance
  • Purpose of the Conceptual Framework
• Definitions Of Child Maltreatment
  • Legal, Social Science and Child Welfare Perspectives
• Epidemiology
  • Incidence and Prevalence Studies
    • United States
    • Canada and Australia
  • Reporting Issues
  • Demographic and Situational Findings
    • Children
    • Adult and Juvenile Offenders
    • Circumstances and Outcomes
• Theoretical Contributions
  • Causes of Maltreatment
    • Offender Characteristics
    • The Context of Maltreatment
  • Consequences of Maltreatment
    • Developmental Psychopathology
    • Theories of Stress and Resilience
• Conceptual Framework For Child Maltreatment Surveillance
  • Organization and Approach
    • Selected Key Determinants of Population Health
    • Levels of Action
  • Income and Social Status
    • Community Level
    • Societal/Cultural Level
  • Social Support Network
    • Community Level
  • Education 
    • Community Level 
    • Societal/Cultural Level 
  • Physical Environment
    • Community Level
  • Personal Adjustment and Coping Resources
    • Individual Level: Child Victim
    • Individual Level: Adult Offender
  • Child Development
    • Individual Level: Adult Offender
    • Family Level
    • Community Level
    • Societal/Cultural Level
• Analysis
  • Development of a National Capacity for Child Maltreatment Surveillance
    • Priorities, Partners, and Resources
    • Things to Consider
  • Implications of Child Maltreatment Surveillance
    • Public Policy and Public Health
    • Prevention
• References

2 Epidemiological Framework for Child Maltreatment Surveillance

• Introduction
• Background: Public Health Surveillance
• Characteristics Of Surveillance Systems
  1. Usefulness
  2. Simplicity
  3. Flexibility
  4. Acceptability
  5. Sensitivity
  6. Specificity
  7. Representativeness
  8. Timeliness
  9. Resources
• Examples Of Surveillance Systems
  • Infectious Disease Surveillance
  • Injury Surveillance
  • Principles Applicable to Other Systems
    
    1. Be Selective in Conditions for Surveillance
    2. Ensure Effective Communication with Collaborators
    3. Build Surveillance Systems in Stages
    4. Make Ongoing Improvements and Upgrades
• Child Maltreatment Data
  • Variability in Child Abuse and Neglect Definitions
  • Different Levels of Identification of Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Multiple Forms of Child Maltreatment
    • Incidence and Prevalence
    • Duplicate Cases
    • Variability of Available Information
• Functional And Operational Issues
  • Collaborative Partnerships
  • Setting Objectives
  • Case Definitions
  • Existing Data Sources
    1. Child Welfare Databases
    2. Statistics Canada Mortality Database
    3. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Database
    4. Police Statistics
    5. Chief Medical Examiner/Chief Coroner Statistics
    6. Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglec
    7. Population Survey
    8. Hospital Morbidity Database and Discharge Abstract Database
  • What is the Population Under Surveillance?
  • Frequency of Data Collection and Dissemination
  • Data Variables
    1. Characteristics of the child
    2. Maltreatment circumstance
    3. Characteristics of the alleged perpetrator(s)
    4. Characteristics of caregiver(s)
    5. Characteristics of household
  • Data Transfer and Privacy
  • Data Storage, Analysis and Dissemination
• Other Issues
  • Integration with Health Canada's Surveillance Activities
  • Surveillance of Risk Indicators Associated with Child Maltreatment 
    • Individual/Family Level
    • Community Level
  • Surveillance of Behavioural Indicators Associated with Child Maltreatment
  • Unreported Cases
  • Cultural Relevance
• Methodology Issues
  • Underestimation of Cases
  • Biases
  • Duplicate Records
  • Choice of Denominators
• Summary
• References

• Figure 1 - Scope of Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect
• Figure 2 - Demographic and Situational Factors
• Figure 3 - Conceptual Framework Overview
• Figure 4 - Income and Social Status
• Figure 5 - Social Support
• Figure 6 - Education
• Figure 7 - Physical Environment
• Figure 8 - Personal Adjustment and Coping Resources
• Figure 9 - Child Development
• Table 1 - Priorities for Key Variables in the Conceptual Framework, with Examples of Partnerships
• Table 2 - Canadian Child Maltreatment Data Sources

A Conceptual and Epidemiological Framework for Child Maltreatment Surveillance 

87 Pages - (773 KB) in PDF Format