Developing Public Health Approaches to Child Abuse and Neglect
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 275
Special Issue Editors
Interests: child sexual abuse prevention; coordinated multi-sector intervention; child maltreatment
Interests: child maltreatment prevention; intergenerational transmission; adolescent pregnancy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Child maltreatment (CM) constitutes one of the most pressing public health crises of our time, affecting up to 1 billion children worldwide each year. CM is linked to myriad negative developmental consequences across the lifespan, including difficulties with mental health and relationship functioning, disease burden, and even early mortality. More children die of maltreatment-related causes than from all pediatric cancers combined. The goal of this Special Issue, therefore, is to bring together international experts in public health approaches to addressing CM with the aim of building safer and healthier futures for the next generation.
Submissions aimed at empirically estimating the public health burden of CM, particularly in understudied geographic areas, as well as studies applying public health approaches to prevent CM, will be considered. Epidemiological and basic science studies may address aims that delineate the prevalence, mechanisms, economic cost, and public health impact of CM. Submissions focusing on prevention may consider multiple junctures in developmental pathways shaping risk for CM and related outcomes, including interventions targeting systemic root causes (e.g., poverty), child welfare policy and workforce training, intergenerational approaches, and direct service provision. We are particularly interested in studies leveraging (1) epidemiological approaches, cost-of-illness/economic burden analysis, and/or population-level or large public datasets; (2) community partnerships and multisector coordination with stakeholders and policymakers; and (3) rigorous analytic methods (e.g., causal inference, longitudinal multilevel models, synthetic control designs, survival analysis).
Prof. Dr. Jennie Noll
Dr. Justin Russotti
Dr. Hannah Swerbenski
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- child maltreatment costs
- public health
- economic burden
- child abuse and neglect prevention
- child maltreatment prevention
- multisector collaboration
- policy intervention
- global health
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