Child maltreatment, suicidal ideation, and in-home firearm availability in the U.S.: findings from the longitudinal studies of child abuse and neglect

Nurses' knowledge and attitudes about children maltreatment in Jordan: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To examine nurses' knowledge and attitudes, and the factors influencing them regarding managing child maltreatment in Jordan's acute and primary care settings.

METHODS

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Nurses (n = 523, 84 % female) caring for children in Jordan's acute and primary healthcare settings completed the Child Abuse Report Intention Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The mean total score of knowledge items was 4.9 (SD =2.6) out of 13. The mean total attitudes score towards protecting children from suspected maltreatment was 78.6 (SD = 12.27) out of 108. Only 42 % of the nurses intended to screen for child maltreatment in their practice, and 15 % did not consider children's physical punishment a form of maltreatment. Additionally, 66 % of nurses reported that each case of child maltreatment should be reported to the authorities, and 68 % indicated that they should advocate for abused children.

CONCLUSION

The significantly insufficient knowledge and fair attitude of nurses towards child maltreatment revealed by this study raises concerns regarding their preparedness for child protection in clinical practice.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The findings underscore the critical need for interventions to strengthen nurses' capacities to practice protective and advocacy roles in cases of child maltreatment in clinical settings. Such interventions have the potential to enhance child protection significantly. Stakeholders, such as healthcare administrators, play a key role in shaping the policies and practices. They can better address the limited nurses' knowledge and attitude issues and work towards fostering a safer environment for screening for and reporting child maltreatment.

Firearm screening and secure storage counseling among home visiting providers: a cross-sectional study of SafeCare® providers in the U.S

Background

Firearms used in pediatric firearm deaths are most often obtained from the child's home, making secure firearm storage initiatives imperative in prevention efforts. Evidence-based home visiting (EBHV) programs are implemented with over 277,000 families annually, providing an opportunity for secure firearm storage counseling. The purpose of this study was to assess EBHV providers' experiences with firearm screening ("assessment"), secure storage counseling, and their perceptions for related training needs.

Methods

Providers in the U.S. from SafeCare®, an EBHV program often implemented with families experiencing increased risk of child neglect and physical or emotional abuse, were invited to participate in a survey to examine firearm assessment and attitudes toward and experiences with firearm safety counseling. Survey items were primarily Likert scale ratings to indicate level of agreement, with some open-ended follow-up questions. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequencies and percentages) were used to report item-level agreement. A post hoc analysis was conducted using Spearman correlation to examine the association between assessment and counseling and provider-level factors.

Results

Sixty-three SafeCare providers consented to and completed the survey items. Almost three-quarters (74.6%) agreed/strongly agreed that they assess in-home firearm availability. However, 66.7% agreed/strongly agreed that they have not been adequately trained to discuss firearm safety topics. A substantial proportion (80.6%) indicated they would counsel more if materials and training on this topic were available. Response variability emerged by level of urbanicity. A post hoc analysis found that providers' self-reported frequency of assessment and counseling were associated with their comfort level discussing firearm safety and whether or not they had worked with families impacted by firearm injury.

Conclusion

SafeCare providers report a need for materials and training on secure firearm storage, and a willingness to provide more counseling with proper training to the families they serve. Findings illuminate the need for secure storage initiatives for EBHV programs, which have broad service reach to a substantial number of at-risk U.S. families annually.

Violence against children: multifaceted approaches to a complex problem

In this issue of the Journal, we highlight the problem of violence against children globally. We conceptualized this process and the thematic focus and widely disseminated an invitation to submit manuscripts. Each of us took the lead editorial role in a group of manuscripts submitted for this issue. Dr. Viswanathan led the review process for manuscripts submitted by Moe et. al, Seff et. al., Couture et. al, Osborne et. al, Khan et. al., and Friedman et. al. Dr Villaveces led the reviews of Pendharkar et. al, Tang et. al, Ryan et. al, Bravo Sanzana et. al, Flynn O’Brien et. al., Silverman et. al., and Taliep et.al. We hope that readers will see the complexities related to violence against children and get a better sense of the global implications of this problem.