Many observers expected child abuse to increase during covid because it would be hidden from mandated reporters, giving abusers free rein.
However this JAMA Pediatrics article asserts that child maltreatment decreased during covid, as measured by child-abuse related Emergency Department (ED) visits.
Conversely, this AAP News article demonstrates that while visits were indeed fewer, they were more serious, with 50% more requiring hospitalization.
Which interpretation is true? The JAMA article draws broad conclusions from limited data, but the AAP News report doesn’t explain the decrease in ED visits.
More information is needed to decide. For example, did fewer parents bring their children to hospitals because they feared getting covid? Or, perhaps increased income from the child allowance and stimulus checks actually did reduce maltreatment.
Pending better data, conclusions based on a few data points should be considered hypotheses, not facts.
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Read the full transcript of the podcast here.