---
title: "Psych News Alert: Serious Child Abuse May Be on Rise"
description: The national incidence of child abuse in general may be on the decline, but a recent study suggests serious child abuse incidents are rising...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/childabuse_47032378-Jun-24-2025-09-44-20-8547-PM.jpg
---

 10/2/12 12:00 AM

# Serious Child Abuse May Be on Rise

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

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The national incidence of child abuse in general may be on the decline, but a recent study suggests serious child abuse incidents are rising. Although U.S. Child Protective Services data showed a 55 percent decrease in the national incidence of substantiated physical abuse from 1992 to 2009, no study has tracked the occurrence of serious injuries due to physical abuse, said John Leventhal M.D., and Julie Gaither, R.N., M.P.H., of Yale School of Medicine in the online October 1 *Pediatrics*.

The pair recently examined the Kids’ Inpatient Database, a sample of discharges from U.S. hospitals prepared every three years from 1997 to 2009 that includes *ICD-9-CM *diagnosis and external cause of injury codes. They found  that cases of serious physical abuse of children younger than age 18 increased 4.9 percent. The incidence for children younger than age 1 increased 10.9 percent.

Another study published in *Pediatrics* found that abusive head trauma cases have increased significantly during the economic recession, possibly indicating a larger number of children with milder brain injuries who could present with psychiatric symptoms following a time of economic stress. Read more about that finding in *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=180847).

(Image: MNStudio/Shutterstock.com)

[child abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-abuse), [abusive head trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/abusive-head-trauma)

## Related posts

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[child abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-abuse), [economic recession](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/economic-recession), [abusive head trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/abusive-head-trauma)

## [Economic Recession Triggers More Abusive Head Trauma in Children](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/09/economic-recession-triggers-more.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 9/29/11 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/09/economic-recession-triggers-more.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_121043683-Jun-24-2025-06-28-15-2845-PM.jpg?height=200&name=shutterstock_121043683-Jun-24-2025-06-28-15-2845-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/04/childhood-trauma-psychotic-experiences.html)

[psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychosis), [childhood trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/childhood-trauma)

## [Childhood Trauma, Psychotic Experiences Show Bidirectional Relationship](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/04/childhood-trauma-psychotic-experiences.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 4/30/13 12:00 AM

Exposure to childhood trauma predicted newly incident psychotic experiences, according to a report...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/04/childhood-trauma-psychotic-experiences.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AVvXsEirWpap6a9Db5Ci7RwiMFBvuOznmEVzzc8tvAcgpzawl0ULPeTD_tNikrvP3DiYB3jHAU7wryWYhjvFkbcP-Gi0KPTkItEzg9NmLZgNapCngv0E6luAcQak-SmwPWUNstIS6qNzmwSONv4tJ-Jun-24-2025-07-21-59-7511-PM.jpg?height=200&name=AVvXsEirWpap6a9Db5Ci7RwiMFBvuOznmEVzzc8tvAcgpzawl0ULPeTD_tNikrvP3DiYB3jHAU7wryWYhjvFkbcP-Gi0KPTkItEzg9NmLZgNapCngv0E6luAcQak-SmwPWUNstIS6qNzmwSONv4tJ-Jun-24-2025-07-21-59-7511-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/12/childhood-trauma-linked-to-first.html)

[Journal of Psychiatric Research](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/journal-of-psychiatric-research), [childhood trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/childhood-trauma), [first-episode psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/first-episode-psychosis), [neglect](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/neglect), [abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/abuse)

## [Childhood Trauma Linked to First-Episode Psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/12/childhood-trauma-linked-to-first.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 12/17/21 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/12/childhood-trauma-linked-to-first.html)

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