Preventing abuse

• Experience abuse and/or neglect in childhood can have significant impacts on development, health and wellbeing.
• Whilst there is some research about promoting resilience/preventing mental ill health in people who have survived childhood abuse (secondary prevention), fewer studies have explored interventions to prevent abuse from occurring (primary prevention) (1).
• NICE guidelines cover recognising and responding to abuse and neglect in children and young people

Parental interventions

The NSPCC carried out a review of evidence on interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect in 2022 (2). This review found that evidence on interventions to prevent or reduce child abuse and neglect is mixed, with limited high-quality research in this area. Interventions which currently have the strongest evidence base include:

• Home-based interventions
• Interventions which aim to reduce abuse and neglect among ‘maltreating parents’
• Interventions that are tailored to the individual needs of families
• Interventions that are long-term (6+ months duration)
• Interventions that focus on parenting skills and improving parental self-confidence

Note that this review focused on interventions targeted at individual children and families, rather than wider socioecological factors.

Supporting professionals

The NSPCC has carried out research into the support needs of professionals who work with families and children to prevent abuse and neglect (3). They identified that:

• Although professionals are not always clear about what preventing child abuse looks like, they may already display behaviours that can help prevent child abuse, such as building trusting relationships with local communities
• Professionals can face systemic barriers to prevention work, including capacity constraints, overly complex and unclear referral pathways and a lack of support relating to the emotional impact of this work.
• Professionals reported that staff training and joined-up working can strengthened prevention work.

Risk and protective factors

A review of carried out in 2020 summarised risk and protective factors associated with child abuse, using the socioecological model as a framework (1):

Individual

• Risk factors: child’s age, special healthcare needs or disabilities
• Protective factors: self-regulation skills, social competence, adaptive functioning, self-esteem

Interpersonal

• Risk factors: family poverty and material hardships; parental mental health disorders; parental substance use disorders; parental intimate partner violence
• Protective factors: supportive, nurturing parental relationships; parents having social and emotional support from family and friends

Community

• Risk factors: neighbourhood crime and violence; concentrated disadvantage
• Protective factors: neighbourhood social cohesion and control; availability of health, social, and educational services

Societal

• Risk factors: economic policies and trends; gender inequality
• Protective factors: paid parental level; earned Income Tax Credits; increases in minimum wage; fewer restrictions on welfare benefits

Additional resources

• NSPCC reports on Parent interventions to prevent child maltreatment: evidence summary and What professionals know, think and do to prevent child abuse – and how we can support them
• Cambridgeshire County Council webpage on safeguarding children and child protection

References

1. Austin AE, Lesak AM, Shanahan ME. Risk and Protective Factors for Child Maltreatment: a Review. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2020;7(4).
2. NSPCC. Review of parent interventions to prevent child maltreatment. 2022.
3. White C, Shahrokh T, Burgess A, Dutton A, Hodson A, Main A, et al. What professionals know, think, and do to prevent child abuse-and how we can support them A report from Together for Childhood. 2024.