Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41554498›Full record

ArticleAcademic pediatrics2026

Confessions in Cases of Child Physical Abuse-A CAPNET Study.

Margaret R Russell, Antoinette L Laskey, Henry T Puls, Suzanne P Starling, Joanne N Wood, Daniel M Lindberg, Nancy S Harper, Caitlin R McNamara, Angela N Bachim, Farah W Brink and 4 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Academic pediatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Margaret R RussellDepartment of Pediatrics (MR Russell and CR McNamara), UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Electronic address: MRR213@pitt.edu.
Antoinette L LaskeyDepartment of Pediatrics (AL Laskey, P Vaughn, and KA Campbell), University of Utah, Center for Safe & Healthy Families, Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT.
Henry T PulsDepartment of Pediatrics (HT Puls and JD Anderst), Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO; University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (HT Puls and JD Anderst).
Suzanne P StarlingDepartment of Pediatrics (SP Starling), Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA; Child Advocacy Center (SP Starling), Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, VA.
Joanne N WoodDivision of General Pediatrics (JN Wood), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Department of Pediatrics (JN Wood), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Daniel M LindbergDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Kempe Center for Prevention & Treatment of Child Abuse & Neglect (DM Lindberg), Denver, CO; The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (DM Lindberg), Denver, CO.
Nancy S HarperDepartment of Pediatrics (NS Harper), Otto Bremer Trust Center for Safe and Healthy Children, University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital, Minneapolis, MN.
Caitlin R McNamaraDepartment of Pediatrics (MR Russell and CR McNamara), UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Angela N BachimDepartment of Pediatrics (AN Bachim), Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX.
Farah W BrinkDivision of Child and Family Advocacy (FW Brink), Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
Lori D FrasierDepartment of Pediatrics (LD Frasier), Center for Protection of Children, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Hershey, PA.
James D AnderstDepartment of Pediatrics (HT Puls and JD Anderst), Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO; University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (HT Puls and JD Anderst).
Porcia VaughnDepartment of Pediatrics (AL Laskey, P Vaughn, and KA Campbell), University of Utah, Center for Safe & Healthy Families, Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT.
Kristine A CampbellDepartment of Pediatrics (AL Laskey, P Vaughn, and KA Campbell), University of Utah, Center for Safe & Healthy Families, Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT.

Funding

CAPNET - Building Research Capacity in Child Abuse PediatricsR24HD098415 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · PI CAMPBELL, KRISTINE A, LINDBERG, DANIEL M · 2020 to 2024
$1.8M
NICHD NIH HHS R24 HD098415
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePrior research on confessions of physical abuse (PA) has explored mechanisms of injury. Little is known about conditions supporting a confession of abuse or how confessions may influence case outcomes.

methodsThis cross-sectional study of suspected PA in children aged <10 years at 10 centers participating in CAPNET, a multicenter child PA research network, included children with in-person Child Abuse Pediatrics (CAP) consultations between February 2021 and December 2022 and excluded children without injury. Our focus was a confession of inflicted injury known to the CAP during clinical involvement. We compared child and clinical characteristics, out-of-home (OOH) placements, and arrests between cases with and without confessions. Multivariable models using generalized estimating equations (GEE) produced adjusted predicted probabilities (APP) clustering by CAPNET site.

resultsConfessions were known to CAPs in 115/4297 (2.7%) cases, with significant site variability. In a multivariable GEE model, confessions were more likely in cases with injuries with high specificity for abuse (APP 6.0% vs 1.6%, P < .001), near-fatality (APP 5.6% vs 2.3%, P < .001), and older children (APP 4.8% vs 2.5%, P = .025). OOH placements and arrests were more common in cases with confessions. CAP awareness of confessions, OOH placements, and arrests did not follow racial or ethnic patterns seen in the US child welfare system. Lower socioeconomic status was associated with OOH placements and arrests but not with CAP awareness of confessions.

conclusionsOur findings highlight differences in case characteristics and outcomes where a confession is known to the CAP and raise questions about agency response based on child characteristics.

Indexed as

Child AbusePhysical AbuseTruth DisclosureChildChild, PreschoolCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInfantMaleUnited Stateschild abuse pediatricschild physical abuseconfessionoutcomes

Identifiers

PMID41554498
PMCPMC12988591

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.