There is a large disparity, however, between estimates of the prevalence of maltreatment based on retrospective self-reports and those derived from officially documented maltreatment by Child Protective Services (CPS). Retrospective self-reports indicate that child maltreatment is widespread both annually and cumulatively over the course of childhood, with two studies using recent data reporting that in excess of 40% of children will be maltreated during childhood.20, 21 In contrast, official CPS data indicate that far fewer children experience maltreatment. For example, in 2011, only 0.9% of children were confirmed as victims of maltreatment.22 It is unknown to what extent the difference between these two estimates is attributable to the fact that estimates of confirmed maltreatment only capture the number of children maltreated annually and thus do not reflect the population of children maltreated over the entirety of childhood.
