Recent Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect: Child Deaths From Inflicted Injuries: Household Risk Factors and Perpetrator Characteristics (2005)

Perpetrator information is highlighted in bold. Because of space limitations, I'm just including the abstract.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/5/e687?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=Patricia+G.+Schnitzer&searchid=1131459092756_5247&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&journalcode=pediatrics

Published online November 1, 2005
PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 5 November 2005, pp. e687-e693 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-0296)

Child Deaths Resulting From Inflicted Injuries: Household Risk Factors and Perpetrator Characteristics
Patricia G. Schnitzer, PhD* and Bernard G. Ewigman, MD, MSPH

* Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Department of Family Medicine, Biological Sciences Division, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Objective. To determine the role of household composition as an independent risk factor for fatal inflicted injuries among young children and describe perpetrator characteristics.

Results. We identified 149 inflicted-injury deaths in our population during the 8-year study period. Children residing in households with unrelated adults were nearly 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries than children residing with 2 biological parents (adjusted odds ratio: 47.6; 95% confidence interval: 10.4–218). Children in households with a single parent and no other adults in residence had no increased risk of inflicted-injury death (adjusted odds ratio: 0.9; 95% confidence interval: 0.6–1.9). Perpetrators were identified in 132 (88.6%) of the cases. The majority of known perpetrators were male (71.2%), and most were the child's father (34.9%) or the boyfriend of the child's mother (24.2%). In households with unrelated adults, most perpetrators (83.9%) were the unrelated adult household member, and only 2 (6.5%) perpetrators were the biological parent of the child.

Conclusions. Young children who reside in households with unrelated adults are at exceptionally high risk for inflicted-injury death. Most perpetrators are male, and most are residents of the decedent child's household at the time of injury.

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