Predictors of Child Maltreatment Also Predict Risk for Adverse Health Outcomes

Predictive modeling based on factors such as prior child protective services (CPS) referral for a sibling and mother's young age, single marital status, and prior criminal sentence accurately predicts a child's risk for CPS-substantiated maltreatment. Unclear, however, is whether this association merely reflects surveillance or reporting bias and whether these factors are also associated with other adverse outcomes, such as injury or death.

These authors obtained data on child and family characteristics, CPS-substantiated maltreatment, and injury, hospitalization, and mortality outcomes for all children born in New Zealand during 2010 and 2011. First, predictors of CPS-substantiated maltreatment before age 2 years were derived from the 61,00…