Abuse Recurs Most Often in Adolescents

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HONOLULU -- Adolescents are far more likely to suffer recurrent abuse than are younger children, according to an analysis of data from 18 states within the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.

"Age matters," Dr. Vincent J. Palusci said at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, in reporting factors associated with a second confirmed medical report of physical or sexual abuse in the 5 years following an initial confirmed abuse report.

Among 11,867 confirmed abuse cases in states with a complete data set for all 5 years, 1, 835 cases of recurrent abuse (15%) were identified by Dr. Palusci, a pediatrician at New York University's Frances L. Loeb …