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Abuse During Early Childhood

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Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion

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Introduction

Previously, child abuse prevention research was fraught with problems of defining maltreatment and its subcategories as well as a lack of strong research studies documenting the effectiveness of prevention efforts. Many strides have been made in both of these areas, and, in the past decade, the field of child abuse prevention has focused on the risk factors associated with the occurrence of child maltreatment. Research suggests that there are a range of contextual and parental characteristics that put families at an increased risk for child maltreatment and involvement in the child welfare system (e.g., Begle, Dumas, & Hanson, 2010; Putnam-Hornstein, 2011).

This line of research has led to prevention efforts that have been concerned with creating a strong evidence base for programs that not only reduce the identified risk factors and cumulative stress experienced by parents but also promote healthy parenting behaviors. This strategy reflects a more comprehensive prevention...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 348 Mansfield Road, U-1058, Storrs, CT, 06269-1058, USA

    Preston A. Britner & Samantha A. Goodrich

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, CHHS 427, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Sharon G. Portwood

Authors
  1. Preston A. Britner
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  2. Samantha A. Goodrich
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  3. Sharon G. Portwood
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Preston A. Britner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, New London, CT, USA

    Thomas P. Gullotta

  2. University of Connecticut, West Hartford, USA

    Martin Bloom

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Britner, P.A., Goodrich, S.A., Portwood, S.G. (2014). Abuse During Early Childhood. In: Gullotta, T.P., Bloom, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_143

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_143

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