1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The objective of the present paper was to quantify this translational gap [between translational studies and correlational studies] by providing a synthesis of the main objectives of all the research on child abuse and neglect published in a recent year.» (p. 2)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«It was hypothesized that most studies would focus on identifying the negative consequences of childhood maltreatment and that few would address the mechanisms of risk and resilience or the pharmacological, psychological and preventive interventions.» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The authors «conducted a systematic review of all articles on childhood abuse or neglect published in 2016 and evaluated the main objective of the 5094 articles retrieved. References were identified through PsycINFO […] and Medline […].» (p. 2) In the end, «1157 were retained based on the following criteria: […] empirical study or literature review, […] published in English or French in a peer-reviewed journal, […] the research involved child abuse or neglect between 0 and18 years old.» (p. 2)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«[F]indings first showed that half of the studies published in 2016 on childhood abuse and neglect concentrated on the negative consequences of childhood maltreatment. These studies mainly documented well-known repercussions of child abuse and neglect, such as a higher likelihood that people having been exposed to childhood maltreatment develop internalized and externalized problems.» (p. 3) «A second finding was that only 19% of the reviewed studies reported on the mediators or moderators of the association between childhood maltreatment and outcome.» (p. 3) «A third finding was that a mere 8% of studies on childhood maltreatment focused on preventive (2%) or therapeutic (6%) interventions.» (p. 3) «Overall, [the authors’] findings have confirmed the opinion […] that research in the field of childhood maltreatment is relatively inundated with correlational studies reporting on the countless consequences of exposure to extreme life events during critical periods of brain development. [This] present review also shows that studies on the mechanisms of risk and resilience, and on preventive and therapeutic strategies, are not often published whereas they would provide the type of information that is now highly needed.» (p. 4)