Teachers’ detection and reporting of children at risk : findings from a vignette study in Hungary

Kopasz, Marianna and Herke, Boglárka and Balogh, Karolina (2026) Teachers’ detection and reporting of children at risk : findings from a vignette study in Hungary. CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW, 189. ISSN 0190-7409

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Abstract

Teachers are the primary source of child protection referrals, yet little is known about the factors shaping their detection and reporting of children at risk in Europe. This study examines how case-, teacher-, and school-level characteristics influence Hungarian teachers’ detection and reporting decisions, with particular attention to a child’s ethnicity and socioeconomic background. A vignette-based survey was completed by 270 primary school teachers, each of whom assessed four randomly assigned scenarios varying by type of case, family income, ethnicity, and parental cooperation. Three-level ordinal models were estimated to reflect the hierarchical data structure, with vignettes nested within teachers and teachers nested within schools. Teachers’ detection of children at risk was significantly associated with all case characteristics, including the type of case, family income, ethnicity, and parental cooperation. Individual teacher characteristics (except for participation in child protection training) and features of the school context were not related to detection. A different pattern emerged for reporting. Teachers’ reporting was associated with all case characteristics (though for ethnicity significance was only at the 10% level). It was also related to individual teacher characteristics, including teaching experience and participation in child protection training, as well as to school-level characteristics, such as the proportion of Roma pupils in the school. Overall, the findings suggest potential social and ethnic biases in teachers’ detection and reporting, and highlight the need for standardized child protection training in supporting teachers’ detection and reporting decisions.

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