Diseño y desarrollo de una herramienta para la detección del riesgo de desprotección en infancia y adolescencia
- Autores: Sylvia Georgieva
- Directores de la Tesis: Jose Manuel Tomás Miguel (dir. tes.), Patricia Sancho Requena (codir. tes.), José Javier Navarro Pérez (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat de València ( España ) en 2024
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: David Jiménez Hernández (presid.), Cristina Vargas Pecino (secret.), Réne Olate (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Promoción de la Autonomía y Atención Socio Sanitaria a la Dependencia por la Universitat de València (Estudi General)
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
- Resumen
Child maltreatment is a complex, multidimensional issue with many contributing risk factors. The World Health Organization and other studies underline the alarming escalation of such incidents globally, with significant fatalities and widespread reports of childhood abuse. Given this urgent situation, recent efforts aim to prioritize the detection and prevention of maltreatment in political agendas across countries. The demand for precise, reliable tools for assessing maltreatment is crucial in facilitating standardized, effective decision-making within child welfare systems.
Scientific literature advocates for a holistic approach that considers the multifaceted and complex nature of child maltreatment, including societal, familial, and individual factors. In this context, the aim of this doctoral dissertation is the development and validation comprehensive assessment tools that can accurately measure and address child maltreatment, and of its various dimensions. To fulfil this aim, six studies were published in peer-reviewed journals.
The first three studies were systematic reviews that assessed the methodological quality and psychometric properties of instruments used to assess childhood maltreatment and protective factors, with a special focus on the widely utilized Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ-SF).
The main findings highlight a consistent pattern in assessing only a few psychometric properties while other crucial properties remain unassessed, pointing to significant gaps in the scientific literature. Therefore, there is a lack of detailed information on some psychometric properties, underscoring the difficulty in definitively identifying any instrument as superior in assessing child maltreatment. Regarding the assessment of protective factors instruments, several of them show promising psychometric strength, although the same validation pattern is evidenced, and some instruments are highly specific in order to be applicable to a variety of settings.
In the last three studies, the development and validation of the ACRAM (Adolescents and Children Risk of Abuse and Maltreatment) tool is described. This tool is designed to offer a comprehensive, reliable measure for assessing maltreatment risks. Initial findings from validation efforts in Spain suggest good content validity, confirmed by expert reviews. The ACRAM tool has demonstrated good structural validity, internal consistency, and convergent validity in studies involving child protection professionals. Lastly, the latent profiles of protective factors among children and adolescents at risk are explored, linking these profiles to various sociodemographic variables like age, gender, and family structure. The novel data provided can enhance the quality of interventions by focusing on ecological factors influencing child welfare.
Overall, the dissertation advances the field of child maltreatment assessment by developing a comprehensive tool that improves decision-making and communication among professionals in child protection, promoting better prevention and intervention strategies in child maltreatment.
This research paves the way for further advancements in child protection, emphasizing the importance of bridging the gap between research and practice and adopting a globally applicable, scientifically robust approach.
