Child functioning across physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural domains was documented with a checklist of 18 issues that child welfare workers were likely to be aware of as a result of their investigation. Because the checklist documents only issues that child welfare workers became aware of during their investigation, the occurrence of these issues may have been underestimated. The six-month period before the investigation was used as a reference point. For additional information, refer to pages 4, 36 and 38 of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2008: Major Findings.

In an estimated 46% of substantiated child maltreatment investigations (or 39,460), at least one child functioning issue was indicated. Figure 9 The figure displays the six most frequently reported child functioning issues: academic difficulties (23%), depression/anxiety/withdrawal (19%), child aggression (15%), attachment issues (14%), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (11%), and developmental disabilities (11%).

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