The variety and scope of children's exposure to violence, crime, and abuse suggest the need for better and more comprehensive tools in clinical and research settings for identifying these experiences and their effects.

iolence against children continues to grow as a salient issue in national and international public health and public policy discussions. 1,2 However, epidemiology to accurately describe the problem and track trends continues to be a stumbling block in the United States and elsewhere. Available data have not resolved disagreements about whether physical abuse of children in the United States has been increasing [3][4][5] or decreasing 6 or whether bullying is an epidemic 7,8 or on the decline. 9 A recent National Academies Press report pointed to problems in the epidemiology of child maltreatment and called for a "high-quality, populationbased, epidemiological surveillance system that draws on multiple data sources." 10 The most important recent initiative to improve child maltreatment epidemiology is a joint effort of the US Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated in 2008 entitled the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). 11 Repeated assessments have occurred at 3-year intervals, 12 in 2011 and now in 2014. The availability of this surveillance system means that policy makers and health care professionals can have current information on prevalences and trends. The NatSCEV provides ongoing national estimates of a wide range of violence against youth, including the only national source of information about crimes against children younger than 12 years that are not reported to authorities. IMPORTANCE It is important to estimate the burden of and trends for violence, crime, and abuse in the lives of children.OBJECTIVE To provide health care professionals, policy makers, and parents with current estimates of exposure to violence, crime, and abuse across childhood and at different developmental stages. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThe National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) includes a representative sample of US telephone numbers from August 28, 2013, to April 30, 2014. Via telephone interviews, information was obtained on 4000 children 0 to 17 years old, with information about exposure to violence, crime, and abuse provided by youth 10 to 17 years old and by caregivers for children 0 to 9 years old.MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE Exposure to violence, crime, and abuse using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. RESULTSIn total, 37.3% of youth experienced a physical assault in the study year, and 9.3% of youth experienced an assault-related injury. Two percent of girls experienced sexual assault or sexual abuse in the study year, while the rate was 4.6% for girls 14 to 17 years old. Overall, 15.2% of children and youth experienced maltreatment by a caregiver, including 5.0% who experienced physical abuse. In total, 5.8% witnessed an assault between parents. Only 2 significant rate changes could be detected compared with the last survey in 2011, namely, declines in past-year exposure to dating violence and lifetime exposure to household theft. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEChildren and youth are exposed to violence, abuse, and crime in ...

Our understanding of the most harmful childhood adversities is still incomplete because of complex interrelationships among them, but we know enough to proceed to interventional studies to determine whether prevention and remediation can improve long-term outcomes.

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Past research has demonstrated the particularly damaging effects of exposure to multiple forms of victimization, or "poly-victimization," on youth mental health. The primary objective of the present study is to begin to identify the mechanisms that help explain its powerful impact. Analyses are based on two waves of longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), conducted in 2008 and 2010, that comprised a telephone sample of 1,186 youth ages 10 to 17. Using structural equation modeling, we examine direct and indirect effects on distress symptoms of increased, decreased, and stable high poly-victimization between Waves 1 and 2 compared to no or low victimization in both waves. Specifically, we consider the extent to which reductions in core psychosocial resources, including family support, peer support, self-esteem, and mastery, mediate the relationship between these poly-victimization conditions and distress. Relative to stable low victimization, both increased poly-victimization and stable high poly-victimization were associated with declines in all four resources. However, only self-esteem and mastery significantly mediated the association between poly-victimization and distress, with mastery showing the strongest effect. Although significant indirect effects were evident, poly-victimization still had a strong direct effect on distress with resource factors controlled. Findings support the hypothesis that the potent effect of poly-victimization on youth mental health is, in part, due to its damaging influence on core psychosocial resources.

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OBJECTIVE: Sibling aggression is common but often dismissed as benign. We examine whether being a victim of various forms of sibling aggression is associated with children’s and adolescents’ mental health distress. We also contrast the consequences of sibling versus peer aggression for children’s and adolescents’ mental health. METHODS: We analyzed a national probability sample (n = 3599) that included telephone interviews about past year victimizations conducted with youth aged 10 to 17 or an adult caregiver concerning children aged 0 to 9. RESULTS: Children ages 0 to 9 and youth ages 10 to 17 who experienced sibling aggression in the past year (ie, psychological, property, mild or severe physical assault), reported greater mental health distress. Children ages 0 to 9 showed greater mental health distress than did youth aged 10 to 17 in the case of mild physical assault, but they did not differ for the other types of sibling aggression. Comparison of sibling versus peer aggression generally showed that sibling and peer aggression independently and uniquely predicted worsened mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The possible importance of sibling aggression for children’s and adolescents’ mental health should not be dismissed. The mobilization to prevent and stop peer victimization and bullying should expand to encompass sibling aggression as well.