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More than one-third of US youth experienced physical assault in last year

Results from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence published in JAMA Pediatrics suggest that more than one-third of children in the United States experienced a physical assault within the last year.

“Violence against children continues to grow as a salient issue in national and international public health and public policy discussions. However, epidemiology to accurately describe the problem and track trends continues to be a stumbling block in the United States and elsewhere,” study researcher David Finkelhor, PhD, of the University of New Hampshire, and colleagues wrote. “Available data have not resolved disagreements about whether physical abuse of children in the United States has been increasing or decreasing or whether bullying is an epidemic or on the decline.”

David Finkelhor

To establish current estimates of exposure to violence, crime and abuse across childhood, researchers assessed information from telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 4,000 children aged 0 to 17 years. Caregivers provided responses on violence, crime and trauma exposure for children aged 0 to 9 years. Interviews were conducted from August 2013 through April 2014.

Overall, 37.3% of respondents experienced physical assault in the study year and 9.3% experienced assault-related injury. Five percent of the study cohort was assaulted by an adult.

Approximately 15.2% of children experienced maltreatment by a caregiver. Five percent of the study cohort experienced physical abuse by a caregiver. This rate was higher among children aged 14 to 17 years, at 18.1%.

Two percent of females experienced sexual assault. This rate was higher among females aged 14 to 17 years, at 4.6%.

Almost one-quarter of the study cohort witnessed violence in the family or the community in the past year: 8.4% witnessed a family assault and 5.8% witnessed assault between parents.

Compared with study results from 2011, exposure to dating violence and lifetime exposure to household theft significantly declined.

“This study provides updated estimates for exposure to a wide variety of offenses, including violence, crime, and abuse. This exposure is widespread in the short term and over the developmental life course… which justifies continued monitoring and prevention efforts,” Finkelhor and colleagues wrote. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.