Public Opinions About Child Maltreatment in South Carolina: Salience, Relevance, Prevention, and Support for Government Intervention

Substantial evidence demonstrates that child maltreatment is preventable through approaches that address the socio-environmental contexts that shape attitudes and behaviors. Understanding opinions about child maltreatment can inform efforts to influence policy and practice changes that promote child health and well-being. This study examined public opinions about child maltreatment in South Carolina. A telephone survey was conducted in Fall 2019 with a random sample of adults (N = 1,145) in the state. Respondents rated the extent to which they agreed that child maltreatment is an important issue (salience), whether it is a problem in their community (relevance), whether it is preventable (prevention orientation), whether child maltreatment prevention is a good use of their tax dollars, and whether child maltreatment can be prevented through government intervention. Stronger issue salience was significantly associated with stronger beliefs about government intervention to prevent child maltreatment after adjustment for demographics (B = 0.69, p < .0001). Stronger issue relevance (B = 0.05, p = .08) and stronger prevention orientation (B = 0.19, p < .001) were also significantly associated with stronger beliefs about government intervention to prevent child maltreatment after adjustment for demographics. Results indicate that changing public opinions about child maltreatment—specifically around issue salience, relevance, and prevention orientation—could have implications for communications interventions that seek to generate support for government intervention to prevent child maltreatment.