Final answer:
Child maltreatment includes several forms such as neglect, physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. The most common form of abuse is neglect, with parents being the primary perpetrators. Infants are especially vulnerable, and younger parents are more likely to engage in abuse than older ones.
Step-by-step explanation:
Child maltreatment can manifest in various ways, including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment, and medical neglect. Among these, neglect is the most prevalent form, impacting a significant 78.3 percent of cases. Physical abuse follows at 10.8 percent, with sexual abuse and psychological maltreatment each at 7.6 percent and medical neglect at 2.4 percent. Unfortunately, some children experience more than one type of abuse concurrently, which is known as simultaneous occurrence, or encounter different types sequentially, leading to compounded trauma. The issue of child maltreatment is widespread and does not discriminate by socioeconomic status, ethnic, or cultural lines, and the majority of perpetrators are the child's own parents, accounting for 81.2 percent of cases.
Infants, being less than one year old, are the most victimized demographic due to their complete dependence on caregivers. Parental resilience to stress, including financial pressures, plays a significant role in the occurrence of abuse. Young and teenage parents, facing the challenges of new parenthood, are more prone to abuse their children compared to older parents, with the risk of abuse decreasing as the parent's age increases.