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Background: Integrated programmes addressing varying forms of violence and abuse are increasingly delivered to children under 12 but uncertainty remains about what should be delivered to whom, when and in what dose.Objective: To examine the impact of Speak Out Stay Safe (SOSS) - an integrated prevention programme for children under 12 - and whether impact varied by age, gender and context.Participants and setting: A representative UK sample of primary schools in receipt of SOSS was matched with comparison schools not receiving SOSS. At 6 months follow-up, 1553 children from 36 schools completed the survey.Methods: The matched control study incorporated economic and process evaluations. Survey measures included: children's knowledge and understanding of different forms of violence and abuse, readiness to seek help, knowledge of sexual abuse, perceptions of school culture and health and wellbeing. Perceptions of children, teachers, and facilitators were captured.Results: At 6 months, children aged 9–10 who received SOSS retained their improved knowledge of neglect and their ability to identify a trusted adult who they would tell about violence or abuse. Children aged 6–7 receiving a shorter version of the programme were less likely to benefit and boys made fewer gains than girls. SOSS improved the knowledge of children with low knowledge of abuse. School culture was closely associated with programme impact.Conclusion: School-based prevention programmes deliver benefits at low cost but should acknowledge and engage with the specific school context to achieve school readiness and embed programme messages.

Objectives To examine associations between child maltreatment and health service use, both overall, by type and by the number of types of maltreatment reported. Design, setting Cross-sectional, retrospective survey using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire-R2: Adapted Version (Australian Child Maltreatment Study); computer-assisted mobile telephone interviews using random digit dialling, Australia, 9 April – 11 October 2021. Participants Australians aged 16 years or more. The target sample size was 8500 respondents: 3500 people aged 16–24 years and 1000 respondents each from the five age groups (25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65 years or more). Main outcome measures Self-reported health service use during the past twelve months: hospital admissions, length of stay, and reasons for admission; and numbers of consultations with health care professionals, overall and by type. Associations between maltreatment and health service use are reported as odds ratios adjusted for age group, gender, socio-economic status, financial hardship (childhood and current), and geographic remoteness. Results A total of 8503 participants completed the survey. Respondents who had experienced child maltreatment were significantly more likely than those who had not to report a hospital admission during the preceding twelve months (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16–1.66), particularly admission with a mental disorder (aOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.03–5.6). The likelihood of six or more visits to general practitioners (aOR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.87–3.02) or of a consultation with a mental health nurse (aOR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.75–4.06), psychologist (aOR, 2.40; 95% CI, 2.00–2.88), or psychiatrist (aOR, 3.02; 95% CI, 2.25–4.04) were each higher for people who reported maltreatment during childhood. People who reported three or more maltreatment types were generally most likely to report greater health service use. Conclusions Child maltreatment has a major impact on health service use. Early, targeted interventions are vital, not only for supporting children directly, but also for their longer term wellbeing and reducing their health system use throughout life.

This paper reports on a feasibility study for an evaluation of a UK primary school-based prevention programme that addresses multiple forms of abuse and neglect, identifying research design and ethical issues and exploring research practice. For this feasibility study, 194 children aged 6-11 years completed a baseline survey and 113 did so following the intervention. Eight focus groups were undertaken with 52 children and nine interviews with school staff. We highlight key considerations for conducting large-scale mixed-method research on sensitive topics with younger children, a focus that is largely absent from the extant research methods literature. The feasibility study showed that younger children can contribute their views on sensitive topics in ways that are measurable, replicable and reliable, contesting ideas that certain topics are too sensitive to explore with younger children.

We examined the association between involvement in peer victimisation in early childhood and different measures of peer relations in order to examine the role of the peer group in victimisation with special focus on the role of the aggressor, defender, and target. Children (N=200; 45.5% girls) and teachers (N=8; 100% women) were recruited from three primary schools in the south-east of England. Children were aged 5-7 years (M=75.6 months, SD=10.39). Child and teacher reports of children’s friendships were obtained. Children reported on the quality of their best friendship. Children provided peer reports on involvement in peer victimisation (as aggressor, defender, and target) and social status (like-most and like-least). Results show that aggressive children received more like-least nominations than other children, defenders were the most liked by peers, but targets’ social status was not clearly identifiable. There were no significant differences between role in peer victimisation and best friend nominations - most children said that they had a best friend. Similarly, there were no differences in reciprocated friendship between different roles. However, children who had their friendship reciprocated received more defender nominations. In line with the homophily hypothesis, aggressive children tended to have aggressive friends and have friendships characterised by conflict. Defenders were friends with other defenders. Targets tended to follow the social competence model of friendships by indicating defenders as their best friends. We discuss these findings in relation to the role that group processes may play in peer victimisation in early childhood.

Bullying has a tendency to be associated with aggression between children in the playground, but bullying and abuse can also be observed in other social settings. Bullying in Different Contexts brings together, for the first time, leading international researchers to discuss these behaviours in a wide range of settings, including preschool, school, the home, residential care, prisons, the workplace and cyberspace. The authors provide background to the different contexts, discuss the impact and types of interpersonal aggression and the characteristics of those involved. A final chapter collates the findings from each context to draw conclusions on the similarities and differences between the behaviours, risk factors for involvement and theoretical approaches to explain bullying. This original volume will further our understanding of bullying and inform preventative and intervention work. The authors seek to show how research from diverse settings may inform our understanding of the bullying phenomenon as a whole.