Response to family violence in child health services (FRIDa): study protocol of a mixed-method study in the Stockholm region, Sweden.

Abstract

Growing up with family violence (FV) is potentially harmful both in a short-term and long-term perspective for the child. Early identification and support are therefore important. The purpose of this project (FRIDa) is to gain a deeper knowledge about the identification of and response to FV in the Swedish Child Health Services (CHS). Further, we would like to better understand how structure and organisation together with nurses' perceptions may contribute to identification and response within the CHS. In this part of the FRIDa-project, we will use a mixed-method design to explore the pattern of identification of, and response to, FV. Approximately 90 000 CHS medical records over 12 months will be analysed with regression analysis to examine how FV identification and response vary by demographic factors. Furthermore, a qualitative interview study will gain information about the organisational barriers and facilitators and nurses' professional experiences of working with FV within the CHS. The quantitative and qualitative results will be integrated in an explorative data analysis focusing on variations in the frequencies of posed questions, identification and response to FV supported by interview data. The study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Reference number 2025-03516-01). Results will be published with open access in international peer-review journals and communicated to national and regional CHS to contribute to the understanding of the long-term clinical work with FV within CHS. It will also add to the advancement of evidence-based practices for identification of, and response to, FV. NCT07158983.