Child Welfare Information Gateway
Skip to main content
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • Administration for Children & Families
  • Children's Bureau
Child Welfare Information Gateway
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   

Home Topics Publications Library State Resources More Tools & Resources News & Events
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Free Subscriptions
  • Resources in Spanish
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Resources in Spanish
  • Shopping Cart
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Family-Centered Practice
      • Philosophy and Key Elements of Family-Centered Practice
      • Family-Centered Practice Across the Service Continuum
      • Engaging Families
      • Family-Centered Casework Practice
      • Family Group Decision-Making
      • Engaging Communities to Support Families
      • Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Definitions of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Identification of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
      • People Who Engage in Child Abuse or Neglect
      • Impact of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Child Abuse & Neglect Fatalities
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
      • Overview: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Promoting Child & Family Well-Being
      • Public Awareness & Creating Supportive Communities
      • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs
      • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
      • Evidence-Based Practice for Child Abuse Prevention
      • Evaluating Prevention Programs
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Introduction to Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Assessment in Child Protection
      • Differential Response in Child Protective Services
      • Child Protection Casework Practice
      • Responding to Child Maltreatment Near Fatalities and Fatalities
      • Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
      • Collaborative Responses to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
      • Supporting Families With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
      • Introduction to Family Support and Preservation
      • In-Home Services Involved With Child Protection
      • Family Support Services
      • Resources for Managers of Family Support and Preservation Services
      • Family Preservation Services
    • Out-of-Home Care
      • National Foster Care Month
      • Overview: Out-of-Home Care
      • Foster Care
      • Group and Residential Care
      • Kinship Care
      • Casework Practice in Out-of-Home Care
      • Transition to Adulthood and Independent Living
      • Placement Decisions
      • Resources for Foster Families
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Overview: Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Reunifying Families
      • Recruiting and Retaining Resource Families
      • Permanency With Relatives and Kin
      • Guardianship
      • Permanency for Specific Youth Populations
      • Legal and Court Issues in Permanency
      • Interjurisdictional Placements
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families After Permanency
      • Resources for Administrators and Managers About Permanency
      • Resources for Families About Permanency
    • Adoption
      • National Adoption Month
      • All-In Foster Adoption Challenge
      • Children's Bureau Adoption Call to Action
      • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
      • Introduction to Adoption
      • Ethical Issues in Adoption
      • For Adopted People
      • For Adoption Program Managers & Administrators
      • For Expectant Parents Considering Adoption and Birth Parents
      • How to Adopt
      • Laws Related to Adoption
      • Parenting After Adoption
      • Preplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Postplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Search & Reunion in Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
      • Administering & Managing Child Welfare Agencies & Programs
      • Child Welfare Practice Improvement
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Ethical Practice & Client Rights
      • Evaluating Program and Practice Effectiveness
      • Funding
      • Information Systems & Data
      • Supervising Child Welfare Services
      • System Reform
      • Training
      • Workforce
    • Systemwide
      • Assessment
      • Behavioral Health & Wellness
      • Courts
      • Cultural Responsiveness
      • Diverse Populations and Communities
      • Domestic Violence
      • Human Trafficking
      • Laws & Policies
      • Service Array
      • Statistics
      • Well-Being
      • Youth
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Topic
    • Browse by Title
    • índice de Títulos en Español (Spanish Title Index)
  • Library
    • Library Services
    • Library Search Help
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals Search
    • State-Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Resources From the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants
      • The Story of the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Video Series
    • Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast Series
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • News & Events
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Adoption Triad
    • Children's Bureau Express (CBX)
    • The Grantee Connection
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • Home
  • Topics
  • Child Abuse & Neglect
  • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Child Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect

Age; health; and physical, mental, emotional, and social development are factors that may increase a child's vulnerability to maltreatment. Infants and young children, due to their small physical size, early developmental status, and need for constant care, can be particularly vulnerable to certain forms of maltreatment, such as abusive head trauma and physical or medical neglect. The demands of caring for these children may overwhelm their parents. This page provides resources on child factors associated with child abuse and neglect.

  • Age
  • Health
  • Disabilities

Autism & Wandering
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Provides free resources and trainings to help professionals and families mitigate risk factors for wandering for children on the autism spectrum. 

Contributing Factors to Child Abuse and Neglect
Children’s Wisconsin
Outlines societal, adult, and child contributing factors to the risk of child abuse and neglect. Child factors listed include illness, disability, crying, feeding problems, tantrums, biting, disobedience and lying, physical appearance, and poor grades.

LGBTQ Youth and Sexual Abuse: Information for Mental Health Professionals (PDF - 1,326 KB)
National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2014)
Provides information on issues and concerns for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth related to sexual orientation and sexual abuse. It also includes a section for parents on issues to be aware of regarding LGBTQ youth, including sexual abuse.

Prevalence Of Adverse Childhood Experiences (aces) Among US Children (article in Children and Youth Services Review)

Crouch & Bennett & McKinney & Probst & Radcliff (2019)

Child Abuse and Neglect, , 92, (June 2019)

View Abstract

Examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among children in the United States to determine the relationship between child and family characteristics and the likelihood of reported exposure to ACEs.

Risk Factors
National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments
Reveals how runaway and homeless youth, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth, are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse and child trafficking.

Selected Library Resources: Child Factors Associated With Maltreatment
Presents research articles from prior to 2016 related to child factors associated with child abuse and neglect and that have contributed to the literature on the social ecological framework for conceptualizing risk factors for child maltreatment.

Age

Adolescent Maltreatment in the Child Welfare System and Developmental Patterns of Sexual Risk Behaviors
Fowler, Motley, Zhang, Rolls-Reutz, & Landsverk (2015)
Child Maltreatment, 20(1)
Explores whether adolescent maltreatment and being placed in out-of-home care serves as a risk factor for sexual risk behaviors in adolescents involved in the child welfare system.

Child Maltreatment
Child Trends (2019)
Explores how younger children have a higher risk for child maltreatment and examines trends in risk factors and key facts about child maltreatment in the United States from 1990 to 2017.

InBrief: The Science of Neglect
Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child
Discusses how the absence of caregiver responsiveness can cause harm to a young child's developing brain and affect executive functioning skills and the body’s stress response. The webpage includes a 5-minute video and links to a resource that explores additional research on this topic.

Protective Factors Buffer Life Stress and Behavioral Health Outcomes Among High-Risk Youth
Sharma, Mustanski, Dick, Bolland, & Kertes (2019)
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47
Presents the results of a study that tested the potential protective factors of religiosity, parental monitoring, and neighborhood characteristics on life stress and behavioral outcomes for high-risk youth living in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Securing a Bright Future: Maltreated Infants and Toddlers
Cohen & Herrick (2016)
ZERO TO THREE
Emphasizes the developmental needs of infants and toddlers in the child welfare system and discusses how maltreatment of this age group negatively affects intellectual functioning and social and emotional well-being. The brief outlines policy recommendations to ensure better care for young children in foster care.

(Back to Top)

Health

Special Needs, Higher Abuse Risk
Sirotnak (2017)
Discusses how children with special health-care needs may be at higher risk for maltreatment.

(Back to Top)

Disabilities

Abuse and Exploitation of People With Developmental Disabilities
Disability Justice
Explains the high risk of abuse and exploitation experienced by children with developmental disabilities and provides links to information about physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, psychological abuse, exploitation, financial fraud, and other issues.

For Children With Disabilities
Chicago Children's Advocacy Center
Outlines special considerations for preventing, recognizing, and responding to the abuse of children with disabilities.

Maltreatment Risk Among Children With Disabilities
Maclean, Sims, Bower, Leonard, Stanley, & O’Donnell (2017)
Pediatrics, 139(4)
Examines the risk of maltreatment in children with different types of disabilities. Results showed children and youth with intellectual disabilities, mental/behavioral problems, and conduct disorders had increased risk compared with other disability types.

Recognizing and Preventing Abuse
Autism Speaks
Discusses safety concerns of children with autism and developmental disabilities and their increased risk of abuse, violence, and neglect. The webpage also provides information about how to prevent, recognize, and respond to abuse as well as a list of additional resources.

The Risk and Prevention of Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities

Series Title
Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability
View
Download (PDF - 404KB)
Order (Free)
Year Published
2018
Examines the statistics and research related to maltreatment of children with disabilities, risk factors, and strategies for prevention. Issues encountered when assessing a child with a disability for maltreatment are explored; and information about promising prevention, collaboration, and training approaches are outlined.

Safety and Children With Disabilities: Abuse and Neglect
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019)
Provides facts about disability and maltreatment and discusses steps parents can take to protect children with disabilities from abuse and neglect.

(Back to Top)

Spotlight On

Risk and Protective Factors

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020)

Related Content

Promoting Child and Youth Well-Being

Protective Factors to Promote Well-Being and Prevent Child Abuse & Neglect

Children's Bureau - An office of the Administration for Children and Families

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

  • Children’s Bureau
  • Administration for Children and Families
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
↑ Back to top
  • HOME
  • TOPICS
    • Family-Centered Practice
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
    • Out-of-Home Care
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
    • Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
    • Systemwide
  • National Initiatives
    • National Adoption Month
    • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
    • National Foster Care Month
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Title
    • Browse by Topic
    • Índice de Títulos en Español
  • Library
    • Search the Library
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals
    • State Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Children's Bureau Resources
    • Information Gateway Podcast
    • Multimedia
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • NEWS AND EVENTS
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • ABOUT US
    • How to Report Child Abuse or Neglect
    • Find Help With a Personal Situation
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Glossary
    • Search A to Z
  • Contact Us
    • 1-800-394-3366
    • info@childwelfare.gov
    • Subscribe to Free Updates
    • Chat With Us
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • POLICIES & HELPFUL LINKS
    • Disclaimer and Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility
    • FOIA requests
    • No FEAR Act data
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Performance reports
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
    • USA.gov
    • Download Acrobat Reader
  • ↑ Back to top