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Infant crying and abuse.

Sijmen A Reijneveld·Marcel F van der Wal·Emily Brugman·Remy A Hira Sing·S Pauline Verloove-Vanhorick
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Abstract

Child abuse and neglect are important causes of child morbidity and death. We assessed potentially detrimental parental actions induced by infant crying in 3259 infants aged 1-6 months, in the Netherlands. In infants aged 6 months, 5.6% (95% CI 4.2-7.0) of parents reported having smothered, slapped, or shaken their baby at least once because of its crying. The risks of detrimental actions were highest for parents from non-industrialised countries, those with either no job or a job with short working hours, and those who judged their infant's crying to be excessive. Clinicians should be aware of the risks of abuse in children known to cry a lot and should target interventions at parents to help them cope with this crying.

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Child AbuseCryingFemaleHumansInfantInfant BehaviorInfant, NewbornMaleNetherlandsParentsPrevalenceSocioeconomic FactorsSurveys and QuestionnairesJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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Sijmen A Reijneveld, Marcel F van der Wal, Emily Brugman, Remy A Hira Sing, S Pauline Verloove-Vanhorick. Infant crying and abuse.. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)17191-2

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