Nearly four of 10 U.S. kids exposed to violence

If the child was between age 10 and 17, he or she was interviewed over the phone. An adult caregiver answered questions for younger children.

The interviewers asked about conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and sibling abuse, sexual assault, indirect exposure to violence and witnessing violence to others, and Internet violence. If the child had been exposed to any of these events over the previous year, the interviewers also asked about who committed the violence, weapons and injuries.

About 37 percent of kids had been physically assaulted over the previous year, and almost 10 percent were injured as a result, the researchers found. Two percent of girls had been sexually assaulted or abused, including more than 4 percent of girls age 14 to 17.

About 15 percent had experienced maltreatment by a caregiver. Almost 6 percent had witnessed violence between their parents.

These numbers are similar to what’s been found in previous studies in the U.S. and elsewhere, Dr. Andreas Jud of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland told Reuters Health by email. Jud was not part of the new study.

Most maltreatment incidents occur within the family, according to John Fluke, a child welfare scholar-in-residence at the University of Denver in Colorado.

In the social service population and in his own study, neglect is the predominant form of maltreatment, Fluke told Reuters Health by email.

“This is really complex and what is needed is some considerable effort to use surveillance data in targeted ways to help determine what prevention and treatment approaches are most effective for specific populations,” Fluke said.

The researchers called land lines as well as cellphone-only households, but people are increasingly reluctant to participate in surveys, which is a limitation of this kind of study, Finkelhor said.

“Violence and abuse in childhood are big drivers behind many of our most serious health and social problems,” he said. “They are associated with later drug abuse, suicide, criminal behavior, mental illness and chronic disease like diabetes.”

Parent education and support programs have been shown to prevent family abuse, and school-based programs can reduce bullying while dating violence prevention programs can help teens, Finkelhor said.

“The challenge is to get children and families access to these programs and make such education more comprehensive and integrated into the curriculum,” he said.

SOURCE: JAMA Pediatrics, online June 29, 2015.