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Child physical abuse, declining trend in prevalence over 10 years in Sweden
Author(s) -
Kvist Therese,
Dahllöf Göran,
Svedin Carl Göran,
Annerbäck EvaMaria
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.15215
Subject(s) - medicine , physical abuse , child abuse , demography , psychological abuse , bivariate analysis , multivariate analysis , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , poison control , environmental health , statistics , mathematics , pathology , sociology
Aim To study trends in prevalence and risk factors of child physical abuse over 10 years in Sweden. Methods This study analysed responses from school surveys in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017 in Södermanland County, Sweden with average 5125 respondents per year, 15 and 17 years old. There were identical questions on exposure to violence and risk factors including parental employment, separated parents, disability or disease, foreign background and lack of adult support. Intimate partner violence was included at three occasions. Data were analysed with bi‐ and multivariate models, and mean of accumulated risks were compared. Results Child physical abuse decreased significantly between 2008 and 2017. Repeated abuse decreased to a less degree than abuse once. In bivariate analyses, the share of risk factors declined for those exposed to physical abuse. In multiple analyses, it was found significant associations with exposure. There was and a dose‐relationship between numbers of accumulated risk categories and self‐reported abuse. Conclusion Exposure to child physical abuse decreased substantially between 2008 and 2017. However, prevalence of abuse is still unacceptable, and the finding that prevalence of the more severe forms of CPA decreased less during the same time, draws attention to the need of ongoing efforts.