Assessing Child Abuse Hotline Inquiries in the Wake of COVID-19

Ortiz, Robin; Kishton, Rachel; Šinko, Laura; Fingerman, Michelle; Moreland, Diane; Wood, Joanne N.; Venkataramani, Atheendar S.

doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0525

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Our study offers evidence that this hypothesized concern may truly be occurring in the home environment, at least as perceived and experienced by children. These concerning findings, overlaid by structural and societal confounders such as decreased access to school mandated child abuse reporters, puts children during the pandemic at an ultra-heightened risk of under-reported abuse ( Curtis et al, 2000 ; Ortiz et al, 2021 ; Rapoport et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The level of maltreatment, in some cases, may therefore be underreported. While this sample may not be representative of all children during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of children who access Child Help services reach out via text and chat ( Ortiz et al, 2021 ), such that these modalities were uniquely suited for this study. Second, the study period reflects the perceptions of children and adolescents in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic; experiences among youth today in the ongoing pandemic likely differ and warrant further study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is a program of Childhelp, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the needs of abused, neglected, and at-risk children and adolescents of all ages. The helpline is staffed 24 h a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors who provide crisis intervention, information, and referrals to emergency, social services, and support resources by confidential phone calls, text conversations, and online chats ( Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 2020 ; Ortiz et al, 2021 ). The helpline serves children and families from all over the United States and provides assistance through interpreters in 170 different languages.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In their own words: Child and adolescent perceptions of caregiver stress during early COVID-19

Ortiz

Kishton

et al. 2022

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated multiple stressors for caregivers of children in the United States, raising concern for increased family conflict, harsh parenting, and child maltreatment. Little is known regarding children's perceptions and experiences of caregiver stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective To examine how children and adolescents identify and experience caregiver stress during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We analyzed 105 de-identified helpline text and online chat transcripts from children under age 18 who submitted inquiries to the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline from March to June of 2020, with COVID-19 as a presenting issue. Inductive, thematic analysis was used to identify how child helpline users: 1) perceived and experienced drivers of caregiver stress and 2) used words to describe manifestations of caregiver stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Children experienced multiple drivers of caregiver stress during COVID-19, including intrapersonal (e.g. caregiver health concerns), interpersonal (e.g. parental discord, perceived dislike of child), and extrapersonal (e.g. financial insecurity, sheltering in place) stressors. Regardless of the driver, caregivers' stress was internalized by children. “Anger,” “control,” and “blame” were most commonly used to label manifestations of caregiver stress, which were often externalizing behaviors, including yelling, name calling, and blaming of others. Conclusion In text and online chat inquiries to a national child helpline during the COVID-19 pandemic, children described multiple drivers of caregiver stress, often feeling as though they were to blame. Providers serving children should address household stress spillover effects by including caregivers and directly acknowledging children's concerns using their own words.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In their own words: Child and adolescent perceptions of caregiver stress during early COVID-19

Ortiz

Kishton

et al. 2022

Child Abuse & Neglect

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“…As of March 2020, "COVID-19" was added to this list. During the pandemic, the majority of non-phonecall modality users were children (Ortiz et al, 2021). Therefore, for the purpose of this study, given our interest in youth perspectives of changes in conflict and abuse dynamics during stay-at-home orders, we used all text and chat transcripts between May 1 st and June 30 th that were classified as coming from users under the age of 18, with a co-occurring COVID-19 concern, as signified by the counselor classification (n = 105).…”

Section: The Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the timeframe of this study (May-June 2020), Childhelp received 21,778 user inquiries, with 13% identifying as under 18 years old. Among this group, over three-quarters (76.2%) accessed services via text or chat, with 58.3% of text and chat inquiries being from users age 18 and younger (see Ortiz et al, 2021 for Child help user reporting trends).…”

Section: Study Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“The Stay at Home Order is Causing Things to Get Heated Up”: Family Conflict Dynamics During COVID-19 From The Perspectives of Youth Calling a National Child Abuse Hotline

Šinko

Kishton

et al. 2021

J Fam Viol

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The purpose of this study was to identify changes in family conflict and abuse dynamics during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders from the perspectives of youth calling a national child abuse hotline. We analyzed text and chat transcripts from Childhelp’s National Child Abuse Hotline from May–June 2020 that were flagged as coming from a child with a COVID-19-related concern (N = 105). Thematic analysis was used to identify COVID-19 related influences of family conflict as well as how COVID-19 constraints influenced coping and survival for youth reporting distress or maltreatment to the hotline. Family conflict most commonly disclosed stemmed from parental or child mental health concerns, often manifesting in escalated child risk taking behaviors, parental substance use, and violence in the home. Conflict was also mentioned surrounding caregiver issues with child productivity while sheltering-in-place, commonly related to school or chores. Youth often voiced feeling unable to find relief from family conflict, exacerbated from physical distance from alternative social supports, technological isolation, and limited contact with typical safe places or supportive adults. To cope and survive, youth and crisis counselors found creative home-based coping skills and alternative reporting mechanisms. Understanding the unique impact of COVID-19 on youth in homes with family conflict and abuse can point to areas for intervention to ensure we are protecting the most vulnerable as many continue to shelter-in-place. In particular, this study revealed the importance of online hotlines and reporting mechanisms to allow more youth to seek out the help and professional support they need.

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Ortíz¹,

Kishton²,

Sinko³

2021

JAMA Pediatr

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2. As reported by Schreuder et al and Belluzzi et al, mycophenolic acid area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (MPA-AUC) should be considered the criterion standard for monitoring MMF levels. However, variations in MPA-AUC were not correlated with MMF dosage in some studies. 5 Moreover, determining the MPA-AUC does not represent a practicable tool for determining MMF doses in prospective studies enrolling many patients and requiring multiple controls over multiple years. Only 1 of 4 previous RCTs used MPA-AUC to define the appropriate MMF dose. 5 3. MMF is considered a well-tolerated drug. However, dosedependent adverse effects, such as gastrointestinal disorders or leukopenia, may limit administration in a relevant percentage of cases. Therefore, a lower effective dose of MMF may have increased the percentage of patients who could benefit from such treatment. 4. We emphasize the power of RCTs compared with noncontrolled studies to assess what still appears to be an open issue. 5. Finally, in response to concerns on the safety of rituximab, long-term follow-up to monitor adverse effects was beyond the scope of the present study. 1 However, previous data support single infusion of rituximab as a safe and effective steroid-sparing treatment in SDNS. 6 Overall, we are confident our study contributed to a therapeutic advance in chronic and multidrug-dependent forms of nephrotic syndrome. Our findings supported the initiation of a new RCT comparing MMF (1200 mg/m 2 per day) with rituximab, which is expected to complete its recruiting phase in 2021 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04585152).

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Assessing Child Abuse Hotline Inquiries in the Wake of COVID-19

Abstract: This cross-sectional study assesses inquiries to a child distress hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with inquiries during the same period the previous year.

Cited by 29 publications

References 1 publication

In their own words: Child and adolescent perceptions of caregiver stress during early COVID-19

In their own words: Child and adolescent perceptions of caregiver stress during early COVID-19

“The Stay at Home Order is Causing Things to Get Heated Up”: Family Conflict Dynamics During COVID-19 From The Perspectives of Youth Calling a National Child Abuse Hotline

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