Exposure to child maltreatment - including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as physical and emotional neglect, is strongly associated with significant and long-term physical and mental health consequences. In some jurisdictions, childhood exposure to intimate partner violence between their parents (also known as childhood exposure to domestic violence or spousal abuse) is increasingly recognized as a form of maltreatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), greater than one-third of the world's children and adolescents will experience at least one form of maltreatment during the course of their development. Children and families for whom child maltreatment has been a concern and who are served by human service systems are amongst the most vulnerable for poor outcomes; some of these outcomes are driven by the maltreatment itself, while others are driven by the realities and challenges within the 'helping systems' that are intended to support and nurture them.
In this Research Topic for Frontiers in Psychiatry, our goal is to bring together global, interdisciplinary research that describes and evaluates innovative solutions to meeting the needs of children, youth, and families for whom child maltreatment has been a challenge or those who are at risk for child maltreatment. We welcome conceptual papers focused on systems leadership and 'systems of care' for families affected by child maltreatment; we also welcome primary quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies of risk and resilience factors related to child maltreatment exposure and mental health outcomes, as well as intervention development and/or evaluation-focused articles with samples of those who have experienced child maltreatment and or/those who have used violence against their children. We are particularly interested in "systems-level" programs and interventions, and their evaluations. A non-exhaustive list of potential topics of interest, is below. We encourage authors to email the Editorial Team if they are unclear about the relevance of their work for this Research Topic.
- Individual, family, community, and system-interventions to address the needs of children exposed to maltreatment and who are accessing human service systems (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health)
- Challenges of navigating transitions (e.g., out of care, into adulthood, into Foster Care)
- Educating 'helping' and 'human service professionals' in identifying and responding to child maltreatment, as well as its risk factors.
- Risk and protective factors, both internal (genetic and biologically driven) and external (family, other relationships, and community), for child maltreatment and resilience following child maltreatment exposure
- Child, youth, and caregivers' perspectives of human service systems serving those with experiences of maltreatment.
Exposure to child maltreatment - including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as physical and emotional neglect, is strongly associated with significant and long-term physical and mental health consequences. In some jurisdictions, childhood exposure to intimate partner violence between their parents (also known as childhood exposure to domestic violence or spousal abuse) is increasingly recognized as a form of maltreatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), greater than one-third of the world's children and adolescents will experience at least one form of maltreatment during the course of their development. Children and families for whom child maltreatment has been a concern and who are served by human service systems are amongst the most vulnerable for poor outcomes; some of these outcomes are driven by the maltreatment itself, while others are driven by the realities and challenges within the 'helping systems' that are intended to support and nurture them.
In this Research Topic for Frontiers in Psychiatry, our goal is to bring together global, interdisciplinary research that describes and evaluates innovative solutions to meeting the needs of children, youth, and families for whom child maltreatment has been a challenge or those who are at risk for child maltreatment. We welcome conceptual papers focused on systems leadership and 'systems of care' for families affected by child maltreatment; we also welcome primary quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies of risk and resilience factors related to child maltreatment exposure and mental health outcomes, as well as intervention development and/or evaluation-focused articles with samples of those who have experienced child maltreatment and or/those who have used violence against their children. We are particularly interested in "systems-level" programs and interventions, and their evaluations. A non-exhaustive list of potential topics of interest, is below. We encourage authors to email the Editorial Team if they are unclear about the relevance of their work for this Research Topic.
- Individual, family, community, and system-interventions to address the needs of children exposed to maltreatment and who are accessing human service systems (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health)
- Challenges of navigating transitions (e.g., out of care, into adulthood, into Foster Care)
- Educating 'helping' and 'human service professionals' in identifying and responding to child maltreatment, as well as its risk factors.
- Risk and protective factors, both internal (genetic and biologically driven) and external (family, other relationships, and community), for child maltreatment and resilience following child maltreatment exposure
- Child, youth, and caregivers' perspectives of human service systems serving those with experiences of maltreatment.
