A short-term evaluation of a hospital no hit zone policy to increase bystander intervention in cases of parent-to-child violence

• Main Authors: Font, S.A (Author), Foster, R.H (Author), Garza, A.B (Author), Gershoff, E.T (Author), Olson-Dorff, D. (Author), Taylor, C.A (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2018
• Subjects: article; Bystander intervention; child; controlled study; hospital personnel; human; Medical center; No hit zone; pretest posttest design; Spanking; staff training; Staff training; violence; Violence prevention
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher
• ISBN: 01907409 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.09.040

This study used a pre/post design to evaluate the implementation of a hospital-wide No Hit Zone (NHZ) bystander intervention around parent-to-child hitting. A total of 2326 staff completed the pre-NHZ survey and received training about the NHZ policy; 623 staff completed the post-test survey 10 months later. A group of 225 parents participated in the pre-NHZ survey and a second group of 180 participated in the post-NHZ survey, also 10 months later. Compared to staff in the pre-NHZ group, staff in the post-NHZ group had more negative attitudes about spanking and more positive attitudes about intervention when parents hit children in the hospital. Few differences were found among the parent pre- and post-groups. This study demonstrated that NHZs are a feasible way to inform and train hospital staff in ways to intervene during incidents of parent-to-child hitting to promote a safe and healthy medical environment. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd