GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ABUSED-CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

Objective: Two questions were posed: (1) What are the proportions of b oys and girls in various categories of substantiated child abuse? (2) Do the gender proportions differ for children with and without disabil ities? Method: Data collected by previous researchers from a demograph ically representative sample of U.S. child abuse reporting districts w as analyzed. This included 1,249 case files involving 1,834 children. The number of girls and boys who did and did not have disabilities was identified for three age categories and for several categories of abu se. Chi-square analyses were used to determine whether there was a rel ationship between disability and gender for the various age and abuse categories. Results: More boys were physically abused and neglected, b ut more girls were sexually abused. Boys with disabilities, however, w ere over-represented in all categories of abuse. Moreover, gender prop ortions among abused children with disabilities differed significantly from those found among other abused children. Although slightly more than half of abused children without disabilities were girls, 65% of a bused children with disabilities were boys. Conclusions: Boys represen ted a significantly larger proportion of physically abused, sexually a bused, and neglected children with disabilities than would be expected from their respective proportion of abused and neglected children wit hout disabilities. Several possible explanations for the observed gend er and disability status interaction are discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.