Short-term services and risk factors associated with psychological abuse recurrence in Japanese child guidance centers.

Background: Few studies have examined the factors that contribute to recurrence of child psychological abuse and the short-term services associated with such recurrence.

Objective: This study aims to contribute to the development of preventive measures for the recurrence of psychological abuse against children.

Participants and setting: The study examined the records of 428 perpetrators involved in cases that were resolved through 1-2 short-term services after Child Guidance Centers in Chiba Prefecture received reports of psychological abuse.

Methods: A Cox proportional hazards model was employed, with the recurrence of child psychological abuse within one year as the dependent variable. The content of short-term services, perpetrator and victim characteristics, and risk factors (a total of 17 items) were included as predictor variables.

Results: Several factors were found to be significantly associated with the recurrence of psychological abuse in children: "No contact with perpetrator" (HR = 2.11, 95 % CI: 1.12-3.96, p = 0.02), "Single parent" (HR = 2.20, 95 % CI: 1.08-4.48, p = 0.03), "Economic hardship" (HR = 2.79, 95 % CI: 1.19-6.55, p = 0.02), "Perpetrator's abuse victimization during childhood" (HR = 3.44, 95 % CI: 1.88-6.29, p < 0.001), and "Previous year's IPV offenses" (HR = 2.02, 95 % CI: 1.17-3.47, p = 0.01).

Conclusions: It was suggested that direct services targeting perpetrators and services addressing perpetrator-specific risk factors may be associated with reducing the recurrence of child psychological abuse.