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Health Education Research Advance Access published online on June 16, 2008
Health Education Research, doi:10.1093/her/cyn030
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Teachers' reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect: behaviour and determinants

A. F. G. Goebbels1,*, J. M. Nicholson2, K. Walsh3 and H. De Vries4

1 Department of Health Organization, Policy and Economics Management, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
2 Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
3 School of Early Childhood, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia
4 Department of Health Education and Promotion, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: * Correspondence to: A. F. G. Goebbels. E-mail: a.goebbels{at}beoz.unimaas.nl

By reporting suspected child abuse and neglect, teachers can make an important contribution to the early detection and prevention of abuse. However, teachers are sometimes reluctant to report their suspicions. This study investigated the determinants of teachers' reporting behaviour using concepts from the Integrated Change Model. Self-report data were collected from 296 teachers employed in 15 Australian schools. Compared to their colleagues, teachers who had never suspected child abuse or neglect (non-detectors, N=57, 19%) were more likely to have a lower confidence in their skills for recognising the signs of abuse, a higher degree of perceived social support regarding reporting, less years teaching experience and lower academic qualifications. Among those who had suspected cases of child abuse or neglect (N=239, 81%), teachers who always reported their suspicions (consistent reporters, 82%) were more likely to have firm action plans about reporting and detecting signs of CAN than teachers who did not always report their suspicions (inconsistent reporters, 18%). While only a small proportion of the variance in detection and reporting status was explained, the results illustrate the utility of health promotion theory and methods for improving our understanding of these behaviours.

Received on February 5, 2008; accepted on April 18, 2008


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