Child physical abuse with and without other forms of maltreatment: Two distinct realities?
Some researchers believe that co-occurrence is fairly frequent among maltreated children. However, most etiological studies of physical abuse have not taken into account co-occurrence of different forms of maltreatment. The large number of unidentified mixed samples calls into question the validity of our etiological knowledge on physical abuse. The aim of this study, therefore, is to compare the characteristics of cases of physical abuse according to whether the abuse occurs alone or co-occurs. The data are taken from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect – 2003, which examined 11 562 reports investigated by a representative sample of 63 child welfare service areas in the fall of 2003. The cases included 658 physically abusive families. Of this number, 217 (33%) families inflicted one or two additional forms of maltreatment. The survey form provided information on over 50 characteristics of the children reported, their families and their parental figures. Bivariate and stepwise regression analyses revealed that the profile of physical abuse cases varies depending on whether the physical abuse occurs alone or in combination with one or two other forms of maltreatment. Those results will help deepen our knowledge of physical abuse and may serve to inspire different types of intervention for the two groups of children.