Mandatory reporting policy and its effects: changes in perspectives on child abuse, reporting behavior, and influencing factors among Chinese child welfare social workers

Debate regarding the effectiveness of mandatory reporting policies in addressing child abuse has intensified globally. This study evaluates the impact of China’s 2020 national mandatory reporting policy on social workers’ reporting behavior and perceptions of child abuse. Drawing on two-wave national survey data from the Chinese Social Work Longitudinal Study (2019 pre-policy, 2022 post-policy), the study applies propensity score matching, chi-square/t tests, and multivariate regression analyses. The findings revealed that the policy significantly increased social workers’ reporting behavior (χ2 = 188.96, p < 0.01) and abuse perception (t = 4.11, p < 0.01). Social workers with longer work experience (OR = 1.10, p < 0.01), or in supervisory roles (OR = 1.98, p < 0.05), were more likely to report child abuse cases. Additionally, being younger (β = −0.07, p < 0.01), holding a major in social work (β = 0.06, p < 0.05), having social work certification (β = 0.12, p < 0.001), exposure to similar cases (β = 0.09, p < 0.001), and not playing a supervisory role (β = −0.05, p < 0.01) were associated with enhanced child abuse perception. The findings underscore the need for tailored training programs to address disparities in recognizing and reporting child abuse.