Shaken Baby Syndrome - Risk Factors

Risk Factors

Caregivers that are at risk for becoming abusive often have unrealistic expectations of the child and may display "role reversal", expecting the child to fulfill the needs of the caregiver. Substance abuse and emotional stress, resulting for example from financial troubles, are other risk factors for aggression and impulsiveness in caregivers. Both males and females can inflict SBS, but the abusers are more often male. Although it had been previously speculated that SBS was an isolated event, a history of prior child abuse is a common finding in cases of SBS. In an estimated 33–40% of cases, evidence of prior head injuries, such as old intracranial bleeds, is present.

Read more about this topic:  Shaken Baby Syndrome

Famous quotes containing the words risk and/or factors:

    Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it.... It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
    Erica Jong (b. 1942)

    The economic dependence of woman and her apparently indestructible illusion that marriage will release her from loneliness and work and worry are potent factors in immunizing her from common sense in dealing with men at work.
    Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)