Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2025 Feb 1;50:101196. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101196. eCollection 2025 Mar.
ABSTRACT
Child maltreatment is a complex public health issue that has consequences across the life-course. Studies to quantify child maltreatment and identify interventions and services are constrained by a lack of uniform definitions. We conducted a European Delphi study to reach consensus on types and characteristics of child maltreatment for use in surveillance and research. Statements were developed following a scoping review and identification of key concepts by an international expert team (n = 19). A multidisciplinary expert panel (n = 70) from 34 countries completed three rounds of an online survey. We defined consensus as ≥70% agreement or disagreement with each statement after the final round. Consensus was reached on 26/31 statements (participant retention rate 94%). From the statements, we propose a unified definition of child maltreatment to improve measurement and surveillance in Europe. Concerted efforts are now required to test and refine the definition further prior to real-world operationalisation.
PMID:39981499 | PMC:PMC11840198 | DOI:10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101196
