Assessment of the effect of physical child abuse within an ecological framework: Measurement issues

The definition and classification of maltreatment and the assessment of its effects have serious implications for child protection and intervention. T hr present study seeks to clarify a number of interrlated issues involved i n the assessment of the effects of child maltreatment. The study tested, wi thin the context of an ecological model, the relative utility of two source s of information about child abuse, Child Protective Services records and p arent interviews, for their ability to account for child functioning The mo del is based on an ecological approach that places risk factors along a pro ximal/distal continuum with respect to the expected impact on the child. Ri sk for poor child functioning was found to increase as increasingly distal as well as proximal risk factors were Included. A sample of too physically: abused schoolchildren, ages 9-11, and their families was obtained from a p ool of consecutive entries onto the Network State Register for Child Abuse. Information about child physical abuse and family functioning was obtained from NPS Child Protective Services records and a structured parent Intervi ew. Child functioning was measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenba ch, 1991a) and the Teacher Rating Form (Achenbach, 1991b). The findings sug gest that for the purpose of evaluating risk factors for poor outcome in ph ysically abused children, with the ultimate aim of improving protection and intervention. it is critical to gather information systematically from mul tiple sources about the abuse and the family context in which it occurs bec ause both are predictive of child functioning, and different information ab out both is contributed by the different sources. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.