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Monica H. Swahn, PhD, Daniel J. Whitaker, PhD, Courtney B. Pippen, MPH, Rebecca T. Leeb, PhD, Linda A. Teplin, PhD, Karen M. Abram, PhD and Gary M. McClelland, PhD

At the time of the study, Monica H. Swahn and Courtney B. Pippen were with the Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. Daniel J. Whitaker and Rebecca T. Leeb are with the Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Linda A. Teplin, Karen M. Abram, and Gary M. McClelland are with the Pyscho-Legal Studies Program, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Monica H. Swahn, PhD, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy, Mail Stop K-50, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724 (email: mswahn{at}cdc.gov).

Objectives. We examined the concordance between measures of self-reported maltreatment and court records of abuse or neglect in a sample of detained youths.

Methods. Data were collected by the Northwestern Juvenile Project and include interviews from 1829 youths aged 10–18 years. Participants were newly detained youths in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Illinois between 1995 and 1998. Self-reported cases of child maltreatment were compared with court records of abuse or neglect in the Cook County judicial system.

Results. We found that among detained youths, 16.6% of those who reported any maltreatment, 22.2% of those who reported the highest level of maltreatment, and 25.1% of those who reported that they required medical treatment as a result of maltreatment had a court record of abuse or neglect. Among those with any self-reported maltreatment, girls (vs boys) and African Americans (vs Whites) were more likely to have a court record (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.53, 3.09; and AOR=2.12; 95% CI=1.23, 3.63, respectively).

Conclusions. Official records seriously underestimate the prevalence of maltreatment, which indicates that multiple data sources are needed to document the true prevalence of maltreatment.