Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Reporting participants in research studies to Child Protective Services: limited risk to attrition.

Knight ED, Smith JB, Dubowitz H, Litrownik AJ, Kotch JB, English D, Everson MD, Runyan DK

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Injury Prevention Research Center, USA.

This study examines the impact of Child Protective Services (CPS) reports made by research study staff on participant retention and discusses human subjects protocols that may minimize either the need to make such reports or the negative impact of reporting on participants and on participant retention. Among 1, 354 primary caregiver-child pairs in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) studies, a total of 15 were reported to CPS by study staff. Within this group, rates of study-generated reports and study participation subsequent to having been reported by researchers were examined. There was an overall retention rate of 93% across a minimum of three interview waves in this sample. Reporting research participants to CPS may have little impact on attrition.

Published 3 July 2006 in Child Maltreat, 11(3): 257-62.
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