Child Maltreatment Priority Setting Partnership

One in every 3 Canadians (32%) report that they were exposed to some form of child maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse, neglect and intergenerational trauma. Child maltreatment is a transdiagnostic risk factor for and a leading cause of mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Risk factors for child maltreatment, including parent mental distress and family stress, have increased two-fold during the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, there is an urgent need to support youth and families following exposure to maltreatment and to mitigate its harm.

Canada is a world leader in childhood maltreatment research. Yet, the perspectives of youth with lived experiences of maltreatment are rarely included in child maltreatment research. Meaningfully engaging youth (18-30 years) and caregivers in research as equal collaborators will result in impactful research that is reflective of, and relevant to, the needs of youth and families.

The goal of this PSP is to identify key research priorities for the field of child maltreatment. Youth, caregivers, and clinicians will guide the selection and formulation of the research priorities. Our team will then disseminate the top ten research priorities to policymakers, stakeholders, and the public.

Please watch this video for more information on our PSP

FAQs

For this project, we use trauma and maltreatment interchangeably to mean:
‘All types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence, and trafficking or other commercial exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power’ (adapted from WHO, 2022).
A priority setting partnership (PSP) is an initiative created by the James Lind Alliance, which was established in 2004, and brings patients, carers and clinicians together in PSPs. These PSPs identify and prioritize the evidence uncertainties, or ‘unanswered questions’, that they agree are the most important for research in their topic area. Traditionally PSPs have focused on uncertainties about the effects of treatments, but some PSPs have chosen to broaden their scope beyond that.
The aim of a PSP is to help ensure that those who fund health research are aware of what really matters to those it impacts - patients, young people, carers and clinicians.
For this survey, we want to hear from you if you:
- Are a young person aged 18 to 30 years and have first-hand experience of childhood trauma (before the age of 18)
- Care or cared for children and young people with a history of trauma
- Work with children and young people with a history of trauma in avariety of contexts (e.g., health services, Family and Child Services/Child and Family Development, school).
Your experience and knowledge will define the most important questions to be answered by future research. We want to know what matters most to you.
We will share the results with healthcare providers, non-profit organizations that work with young people with histories of trauma, government organizations, and communities. Our goal is to produce meaningful changes in childhood trauma research and treatment.
If you are interested in getting involved with this project, please click on the link below to take the survey in either English or French.