{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T14:46:54Z","timestamp":1792075614189,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Hogrefe Publishing Group","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792022400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Abstract: Background: Child maltreatment is a major global public health concern with severe physical, psychological, and developmental consequences. Physicians across many medical specialties may encounter affected children, making child protection an important component of medical education. However, many medical students and early-career physicians feel insufficiently prepared to recognize and manage suspected cases. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey using self-developed questions among medical students at the University of M\u00fcnster (September\u2013November 2025). The survey assessed experiences with child protection, perceived preparedness, and preferences regarding curricular content and teaching formats. Of the 376 respondents, we analyzed 323 complete responses (11.4\u2009% of enrolled students). Via descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and MANOVA, we examined differences across academic years. Results: Students strongly supported integrating child protection as a mandatory standalone course (92.3\u2009%). Preferred teaching formats were communication training (88\u2009%), simulations (83.3\u2009%), and case-based discussions (82\u2009%). Many students reported uncertainty in handling suspected cases, particularly regarding communication with affected children and caregivers (84.8\u2009%) and legal aspects (80.2\u2009%). Perceived preparedness increased significantly with academic progression ( p\u2009&lt;\u2009.001). Conclusions: Medical students demonstrate a strong interest in structured child protection education. Practice-oriented and interdisciplinary teaching approaches may strengthen competencies required to recognize and manage suspected child maltreatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1024\/1422-4917\/a001100","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T14:17:57Z","timestamp":1792073877000},"page":"1-9","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Child Protection Competencies in Medical Education"],"prefix":"10.1024","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6724-5200","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ruth Helena","family":"Fellmeth","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophie","family":"Schl\u00fcter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julia","family":"Hubbert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-3900-6115","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Judith","family":"Fernholz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr-University Bochum, Hamm, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4783-6265","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Manuel","family":"F\u00f6cker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr-University Bochum, Hamm, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Udo","family":"Dannlowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Protestant Hospital of the Bethel Foundation, Medical School and University Medical Center OWL, Bielefeld University, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4984-7822","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Georg","family":"Romer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4560-7039","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Linda Meredith","family":"Bonnekoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital M\u00fcnster, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr-University Bochum, Hamm, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"101","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"c1","unstructured":"Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023, 22 November). Childhood abuse. Statistics about childhood physical\/sexual abuse and witnessing parental violence, including prevalence, relationship to perpetrator and disclosure. Reference period 2021\u200a\u2013\u200a22 financial year. Author. Retrieved from  https:\/\/www.abs.gov.au\/statistics\/people\/crime-and-justice\/childhood-abuse\/latest-release"},{"key":"c2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2010.06.010"},{"key":"c3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00103-019-02982-2"},{"key":"c4","unstructured":"Children\u2019s Bureau. (2025).\n                      Child maltreatment 2023.\n                      U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Available from  https:\/\/www.acf.hhs.gov\/cb\/data-research\/child-maltreatment"},{"key":"c5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lanepe.2024.101196"},{"key":"c6","volume-title":"AWMF S3+ Kinderschutzleitlinie: Kindesmisshandlung, -missbrauch, -vernachl\u00e4ssigung unter Einbindung der Jugendhilfe und P\u00e4dagogik (Langfassung)","author":"Deutsche Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Kinderschutz in der Medizin","year":"2021"},{"key":"c7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3928\/0090-4481-20050501-08"},{"key":"c8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-025-02143-3"},{"key":"c9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(08)61706-7"},{"key":"c10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2024.0804"},{"key":"c11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01421590500046924"},{"key":"c12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/children10091429"},{"key":"c13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13034-024-00795-z"},{"key":"c14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/children11111389"},{"key":"c15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/a0031743"},{"key":"c16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13690-020-00465-4"},{"key":"c17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/PEC.0000000000003146"},{"key":"c18","volume-title":"Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements","author":"Leeb R. T.","year":"2008"},{"key":"c19","unstructured":"LimeSurvey GmbH. (2025). LimeSurvey. Author. Retrieved from  https:\/\/www.limesurvey.org\/de  [Datensatz]."},{"key":"c20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s15006-019-0287-0"},{"key":"c21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0038-1674272"},{"key":"c22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12875-025-02729-w"},{"key":"c23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40653-016-0096-x"},{"key":"c24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11606-020-06538-y"},{"key":"c25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jpc.70230"},{"key":"c26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2012-2780"},{"key":"c27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.2024.98"},{"key":"c28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4300\/JGME-5-4-18"},{"key":"c29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3109\/0142159X.2012.680939"},{"key":"c30","volume-title":"Violence Info-Child maltreatment","author":"WHO","year":"2022"},{"key":"c31","unstructured":"WHO. (2022b).\n                      WHO Guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment\n                      . Retrieved from  https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/m\/item\/who-guidelines-for-the-health-sector-response-to-child-maltreatment"}],"container-title":["Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/econtent.hogrefe.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1024\/1422-4917\/a001100","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T14:17:59Z","timestamp":1792073879000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/econtent.hogrefe.com\/doi\/10.1024\/1422-4917\/a001100"}},"subtitle":["A Cross-Sectional Study of Medical Students\u2019 Knowledge and Educational Needs"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]},"references-count":31,"alternative-id":["10.1024\/1422-4917\/a001100"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1024\/1422-4917\/a001100","relation":{},"ISSN":["1422-4917","1664-2880"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1422-4917","type":"print"},{"value":"1664-2880","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]}}}