Less severe examples include behaviors like repeated belittling, rejection, or scapegoating. These behaviors are often difficult to substantiate and CPS may not be able to intervene without evidence of harm to the child. Although child abuse is divided into four categories, statistics show that the categories are more often found in combination than alone. Profiling Child Abuse Child abuse strikes children of all ages. Statistics indicate however that more than half of abused children are age seven and under, with about one quarter of those being younger than age 4.
Girls remain slightly more likely to be abused than boys do.
Young children remain at highest risk for loss of life resulting from child neglect and abuse. Studies have shown that some children are at greater risk for maltreatment and abuse than others are. Other family characteristics that have been shown to contribute to abuse risk include single parent status, teenage parenting, substance abusing parents, and especially when considering neglect, large family size. Currently, more than half of all reports alleging child abuse comes from professionals, including teachers, law enforcement officials, social workers, and child care providers. In order to help children from becoming the victims of child abuse one must first learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of abuse.