Citation

Mantell DM, Scharlach KM, Iyer SK, Chergou HM. Int. J. Child Maltreat. 2021; 3(4): 409-419.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s42448-020-00059-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Online reports published by Child Fatality Review Boards (CFRBs) for all 50 of the USA across 21 years, from 1998 to 2018, were downloaded and analyzed to determine the nature of the information available to the public about the causes of child fatalities. A modified coding system based on the Life Events Checklist (LEC) system of the National Center for PTSD was used to identify contexts of children's fatal injuries. Child death due to inflicted injury by other persons is the most frequently reported context category in the 21 years surveyed. The LEC-based system captured 80% of the published fatality context data. A lack of consensus was found among the states in regard to the kinds of information reported online, how the information is organized and presented, and the frequency of reporting. These inconsistencies encumber the development of national data trends and analyses. Individual case reports with specific details about child injury context and causation, child protection history, and child protection interventions were infrequent, and when present often highly redacted.

Language: en