Do adult mental health services identify child abuse and neglect? A systematic review.
Open accessAbstract
Child abuse and neglect play a causal role in many mental health problems. Knowing whether users of mental health services were abused or neglected as children could be considered essential for developing comprehensive formulations and effective treatment plans. In the present study we report the findings of a systematic review, using independent searches of three databases designed to discover how often mental health staff find out whether their clients were abused or neglected as children. Twenty-one relevant studies were identified. Most people who use mental health services are never asked about child abuse or neglect. The majority of cases of child abuse or neglect are not identified by mental health services. Only 28% of abuse or neglect cases identified by researchers are found in the clients' files: emotional abuse, 44%; physical abuse, 33%; sexual abuse, 30%; emotional neglect, 17%; and physical neglect, 10%. Between 0% and 22% of mental health service users report being asked about child abuse. Men and people diagnosed with psychotic disorders are asked less than other people. Male staff ask less often than female staff. Some improvement over time was found. Policies compelling routine enquiry, training, and trauma-informed services are required.
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Trauma and PTSD in people with psychosis often remain under-detected in mental healthcare.
“Unfortunately, trauma and PTSD in people with psychosis often remain under-detected in mental healthcare (17, 18).”
From Making meaning of trauma in psychosis (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
The Diagnosis section (page unavailable) reports that people diagnosed with psychotic disorders were less likely to have abuse or neglect recorded in initial assessments, supporting under-detection of some trauma histories. The review does not establish that PTSD itself is under-detected in people with psychosis; its PTSD comparison concerns whether abuse questions were completed for people already diagnosed with PTSD. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Read, J., Harper, D., Tucker, I., & Kennedy, A.
- Affiliations
- University of East London (GB)
- National Health Service (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Read, John
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-08-17
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-19
- ISSN
- 1445-8330 (ISSN-L)
- 1447-0349
- OpenAlex
- W2747347114
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (acceptedVersion)
- UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Military, Security, and Education Studies
- Keywords
- child abuse, child neglect, adult mental health services, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, trauma-informed services, employee training, psychosis, mental health service users
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child Abuse, Humans, Mental Health Services
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