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Factors that Put an Infant at Risk
The following factors increase an infant’s risk of being a victim of abusive head trauma, particularly when combined with a parent or caregiver who’s not prepared to cope with caring for a baby (CDC,nda; CDC, ndb):
- Being less than 1 year of age, particularly less than 6 months of age
- Babies less than 1 year of age are at the greatest risk, but AHT has been reported in children up to 5 years of age
- Babies (especially babies ages 2 to 4 months) are particularly at risk of injury from shaking, because they are small in relation to the size of adults who may pick them up and shake them, and they tend to cry more frequently and longer than older babies.
- Infant prematurity or disability
- Being one of a multiple birth
- Inconsolable and/or frequent crying
- Prior physical abuse or prior shaking, and
- Most AHT victims are male
- A history of previous child abuse.
Factors that Can Increase Risk for Harming an Infant
Most AHT perpetrators are parents and their partners, with the majority of the perpetrators being the male parent or partner. The following factors increase a parent’s or caregiver’s risk of shaking a baby, particularly when combined with not being prepared to cope with caring for a baby (CDC, nda; CDC, ndb):
- Frustration or anger resulting from an infant’s crying
- Being tired
- Having limited anger management or coping skills
- Limited social support
- Young parental age
- Unstable family environment
- Low socioeconomic status
- Unrealistic expectations about child development and child-rearing
- Rigid attitudes and impulsivity
- Feelings of inadequacy, isolation, or depression
- Being a victim or witness to intimate partner violence
- Negative childhood experiences, including neglect or abuse
- Being a single parent.
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