Mobilizing agencies for incidence surveys on child maltreatment: successful participation in Switzerland and lessons learned

Abstract

BackgroundMany countries around the world lack data on the epidemiology of agency response to child maltreatment. They therefore lack information on how many children in need get help and protection or if children stand equal chances across regions to get services. However, it has proven difficult to commit child protection agencies to participation in incidence studies.MethodsThe Optimus Study invested in a continuous collaborative effort between research and practice to develop a data collection for the first national study on the incidence of agency responses to all forms of child maltreatment in Switzerland. An innovative approach of utilizing individual agencies’ standardized data reduced work burden for participation respectably: any arbitrary excerpt of data on new cases between September 1 and November 30, 2016, could be uploaded to a secured web-based data integration platform. It was then mapped automatically to fit the study’s definitions and operationalizations.ResultsThis strategy has led to a largely successful participation rate of 76% of agencies in the nationwide sample. 253 agencies from the social and health sector, public child protection, and the penal sector have provided data.ConclusionsValuing agencies context-specific knowledge and expertise instead of viewing them as mere providers of data is a precondition for representativeness of incidence data on agency responses to child maltreatment. Potential investigators of future similar studies might benefit from the lessons learned of the presented project.

Sexualisierte Gewalt in der Erfahrung Jugendlicher: Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Befragung

“…So ermöglicht es die repräsentative Wiederholungsbefragung der Jugendsexualitätsstudie im Sinne eines kontinuierlichen Monitorings, die Verbreitung von körperlicher und nichtkörperlicher sexualisierter Gewalt in der jeweils aktuellen Generation Jugendlicher und junger Erwachsener zu erfassen und die befragten Altersgruppen (14-17 und 18-25) miteinander zu vergleichen. Zudem ist die Vergleichbarkeit mit anderen regionalen, deutschlandweiten und internationalen Studien [6,9,13] [15].…”

Wie ist die Lage in Einrichtungen für frühkindliche Regulationsstörungen in Deutschland?

“…Diese machte persönlichen Kontakt unmöglich. Nach Jud et al (2018) ist jedoch ein wiederholter persönlicher Kontakt für die Motivation zur Teilnahme äußerst förderlich, da diese vor allem durch die Arbeitsbelastung in den besagten Einrichtungen oftmals eingeschränkt ist.…”

Current research on child maltreatment epidemiology

“…Finally, Jud et al [ 4 ] present lessons learned from the first nationwide study on agency response to all forms of child maltreatment in Switzerland. To reach a remarkably high participation rate of 76% of the contacted agencies, the researchers intensely collaborated with child protection practitioners: they listened to their input in designing the survey, worked together in creating a set of variables, and continued to exchange both formally and informally during the survey and beyond.…”