FACTORS PREDICTING SEVERITY OF PHYSICAL CHILD-ABUSE INJURY - A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This article reviews the research literature about predictors of severe and fatal physical child abuse, an important question for the design of risk assessment instruments for use at child welfare intake. Of various factors relating to the victim, the perpetrator, and the report of child abuse, the only one found in this review of the literature to relate consistently to severity of injury is the age of the child. All other questions concerning prediction of injury severity have yet to be answered satisfactorily, In conclusion, design suggestions for future studies of injury severity are presented