As you can see from the table below, child neglect is the most common type of child mistreatment that comes to the attention of the authorities. These statistics come from the 2007 report on Child Mistreatment by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While psychological abuse is listed as the second least common type of abuse reported to the authorities, this probably has little relationship to its frequency in the population. We can presume it is one of the most common forms of abuse, but because it does not put the child in immediate physical danger, it is likely underreported.
Type of Mistreatment |
Percentage |
Neglect |
59.0 |
Multiple Types of Mistreatment |
13.1 |
Physical Abuse |
10.8 |
Sexual Abuse |
7.6 |
Psychological Abuse |
4.2 |
Medical Neglect |
0.9 |
Other |
4.2 |
Types of Child Abuse Reported in the United States in 2007