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School absenteeism and dropout are associated with many different life-course problems. To reduce the risk for these problems it is important to gain insight into risk factors for both school absenteeism and permanent school dropout. Until now, no quantitative overview of these risk factors and their effects was available. Therefore, this study was aimed at synthesizing the available evidence on risk factors for school absenteeism and dropout. In total, 75 studies were included that reported on 781 potential risk factors for school absenteeism and 635 potential risk factors for dropout. The risk factors were classified into 44 risk domains for school absenteeism and 42 risk domains for dropout. The results of a series of three-level meta-analyses yielded a significant mean effect for 28 school absenteeism risk domains and 23 dropout risk domains. For school absenteeism, 12 risk domains were found with large effects, including having a negative attitude towards school, substance abuse, externalizing and internalizing problems of the juvenile, and a low parent-school involvement. For dropout, the risk domains having a history of grade retention, having a low IQ or experiencing learning difficulties, and a low academic achievement showed large effects. The findings of the current study contribute to the fundamental knowledge of the etiology of school absenteeism and dropout which in turn contributes to a better understanding of the problematic development of adolescents. Further, more insight into the strength of effects of risk factors on school absenteeism and dropout is important for the development and improvement of both assessment, prevention and intervention strategies.

Education and healthcare professionals are crucial in detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect. However, signs of child abuse are often undetected, and professionals tend to underreport their suspicions of abuse and neglect. This qualitative study aimed to examine experiences, attitudes, perspectives, and decision-making skills of healthcare and education professionals with regard to identifying and reporting child abuse and to gain insight into how detection and reporting can be improved. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 Dutch professionals working in child health care, mental health care, primary schools, and secondary schools. The I-Change model was used as a theoretical framework to organize the results. Many professionals believe they miss child abuse signs in their daily work, partially due to a lack of focus on child abuse. Further, professionals indicated having insufficient knowledge of child abuse, and lack communication skills to detect or discuss signs indicative of child abuse in conversations with parents or children. As for risk assessment, professionals barely use structured instruments even though these are regarded as very helpful in the decision-making process. Finally, professionals experience deficits in the cooperation with child welfare organizations, and in particular with Child Protective Services (CPS). Various directions for improvement were discussed to overcome barriers in child abuse detection and reporting, including developing tools for detecting and assessing the risk of child abuse and improving communication and information transfer between organizations.

Previous research has shown that youth consider school-based child abuse prevention programs as one of the most important strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect. This study asked young child abuse survivors how school-based child abuse prevention programs should be shaped and what program components they perceive as essential. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 Dutch young adults that were a victim of child abuse or neglect. A literature review that resulted in 12 potential program components was used to guide the interviews. All young adults agreed that school-based child abuse prevention programs are important and have positive effects on children’s awareness of child abuse. Teaching children that they are never to blame for child abuse occurrences was considered one of the most important components of school-based programs, next to teaching children how to escape from threatening situations and to find help, increasing children’s social–emotional skills, promoting child abuse related knowledge, recognizing risky situations, and increasing children’s self-esteem. Further, the participants found it important to provide children with aftercare when a school program has ended. Overall, young child abuse survivors have a strong view on what should be addressed in school-based child abuse prevention programs to effectively prevent child abuse.

Although both risk and protective factors are important components of etiological theories for antisocial behavior, far less is known about protective factors and their impact. This review summarized primary studies on the impact of different protective factors for antisocial behavior in youth. In total, 305 studies reporting on 1850 potentially protective factors were included. Each extracted factor was first classified into one of 77 mutually exclusive groups of similar factors (referred to as domains), after which a three-level meta-analysis was conducted to determine the protective effect of each domain. A significant and negative effect was found for 50 domains, which were therefore designated as being truly protective. The largest impact (r < −0.20) was found for higher levels of conservativeness, self-transcendence, life satisfaction, involvement in romantic relationships, the capacity to reflect or mentalize, peer relationships quality, prosocial peers, prosocial values, agreeableness, school self-esteem, parental control, general resilience, and social skills. Analyses revealed that the impact of some of the 77 domains was moderated by the youth’s age (five domains) and gender (four domains) as well as the severity of antisocial behavior they exhibit (two domains), indicating that the impact of these domains differs across subgroups of antisocial youth. Given the substantial number of factors that were identified as being protective for antisocial behavior in youth, this study discusses implications for future directions, assessment strategies, and (preventive) interventions.

There is a lack of knowledge about specific components that make interventions effective in preventing or reducing child maltreatment. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to increase this knowledge by summarizing findings on effects of interventions for child maltreatment and by examining potential moderators of this effect, such as intervention components and study characteristics. Identifying effective components is essential for developing or improving child maltreatment interventions. A literature search yielded 121 independent studies (N = 39,044) examining the effects of interventions for preventing or reducing child maltreatment. From these studies, 352 effect sizes were extracted. The overall effect size was significant and small in magnitude for both preventive interventions (d = 0.26, p < .001) and curative interventions (d = 0.36, p < .001). Cognitive behavioral therapy, home visitation, parent training, family-based/multisystemic, substance abuse, and combined interventions were effective in preventing and/or reducing child maltreatment. For preventive interventions, larger effect sizes were found for short-term interventions (0–6 months), interventions focusing on increasing self-confidence of parents, and interventions delivered by professionals only. Further, effect sizes of preventive interventions increased as follow-up duration increased, which may indicate a sleeper effect of preventive interventions. For curative interventions, larger effect sizes were found for interventions focusing on improving parenting skills and interventions providing social and/or emotional support. Interventions can be effective in preventing or reducing child maltreatment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Parents who have been exposed to trauma face distinct challenges in parenting that can lead to negative child developmental outcomes and intergenerational transmission of trauma. Parenting programs for traumatized parents seem promising, but the existing evidence on their effectiveness has not yet been synthesized. This study aimed to examine the overall effect of trauma-informed parenting programs on (a) parenting and (b) parental mental health outcomes by conducting two three-level meta-analyses. Moderator analyses were performed to identify whether program components, delivery techniques, and other study and program characteristics were associated with effectiveness. A literature search conducted up to August 2024 yielded 15 studies reporting on 110 effect sizes. Significant overall effects were found of trauma-informed parenting programs on both parenting outcomes (d = 0.75, 95% CIs = [0.09, 1.15], p = .027) and parental mental health outcomes (d = 0.21, 95% CIs = [0.09, 0.32], p < .001). The first meta-analysis on parenting found no significant moderators, while the second meta-analysis on parental mental health indicated that programs emphasizing child disciplining skills yielded smaller effects (d = 0.04) compared to programs without this component (d = 0.31). Programs using modeling techniques yielded larger effects (d = 0.32) compared to programs without (d = 0.14). Larger program effects on parental mental health were also found for programs with longer durations and when individual sessions were used. Thus, evidence supports the effectiveness of trauma-informed parenting programs in improving parenting and reducing parental mental health problems.

This is the first meta-analytic review investigating what components and techniques of parent training programs for preventing or reducing child maltreatment are associated with program effectiveness. A literature search yielded 51 studies (N = 6670) examining the effectiveness of parent training programs for preventing or reducing child maltreatment. From these studies, 185 effect sizes were extracted and more than 40 program components and techniques were coded. A significant and small overall effect size was found (d = 0.416, 95% CI (0.334, 0.498), p < 0.001). No significant moderating effects were found for contextual factors and structural elements (i.e., program duration, delivery location, and delivery setting). Further, no significant moderating effects were found for most of the coded program components and techniques, indicating that these components are about equally effective. Only a few program components and techniques moderated program effectiveness, however these effects were negative. These results indicated that improving parental personal skills, improving problem solving skills, and stimulating children’s prosocial behavior should not be the main focus of parental training programs for preventing and reducing child maltreatment. This also holds for practicing new skills by rehearsal and giving direct feedback in program sessions. Further clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

School-based programs seem promising for child abuse prevention. However, research mainly focused on sexual child abuse and knowledge is lacking on how individual program components contribute to the effectiveness of school-based prevention programs for any form of child abuse. This study aimed to examine the overall effect of these school-based programs on (a) children’s child abuse-related knowledge and (b) self-protection skills by conducting two three-level meta-analyses. Furthermore, moderator analyses were performed to identify how program components and delivery techniques were associated with effectiveness. A literature search yielded 34 studies (158 effect sizes; N = 11,798) examining knowledge of child abuse and 22 studies (99 effect sizes; N = 7804) examining self-protection skills. A significant overall effect was found of school-based programs on both knowledge (d = 0.572, 95% CI [0.408, 0.737], p < 0.001) and self-protection skills (d = 0.528, 95% CI [0.262, 0.794], p < 0.001). The results of the first meta-analysis on children’s child abuse knowledge suggest that program effects were larger in programs addressing social–emotional skills of children (d = 0.909 for programs with this component versus d = 0.489 for programs without this component) and self-blame (d = 0.776 versus d = 0.412), and when puppets (d = 1.096 versus d = 0.500) and games or quizzes (d = 0.966 versus d = 0.494) were used. The second meta-analysis on children’s self-protections skills revealed that no individual components or techniques were associated with increased effectiveness. Several other study and program characteristics did moderate the overall effects and are discussed. In general, school-based prevention programs show positive effects on both knowledge and self-protection skills, and the results imply that program effectiveness can be improved by implementing specific components and techniques.

Objectives To examine the effectiveness of social skills training (SST) for juvenile offenders and for whom and under which conditions SSTs are the most effective. Methods Multilevel meta-analyses were conducted to examine the effectiveness of juvenile offender SST compared to no/placebo treatment and alternative treatment on offending, externalizing problems, social skills, and internalizing problems. Results Beneficial effects were only found for offending and social skills compared to no/placebo treatment. Compared to alternative treatment, small effects on only reoffending were found. Moderator analyses yielded larger effects on offending, with larger post-treatment effects on social skills. Effects on externalizing behavior were only reported in the USA, and effects on social skills were larger when the outcomes were reported through self-report. Conclusions SST may be a too generic treatment approach to reduce juvenile delinquency, because dynamic risk factors for juvenile offending are only partially targeted in SST.