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Child maltreatment: the Lebanese children's experiences
Author(s) -
Usta J.,
Farver J. M.,
Danachi D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01359.x
Subject(s) - checklist , physical abuse , child abuse , child behavior checklist , medicine , injury prevention , poison control , suicide prevention , psychology , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medical emergency , cognitive psychology
Background This study examined the prevalence, risk factors and consequences associated with child maltreatment in the home. Methods The sample was 1028 (556 boys; 472 girls) Lebanese children aged 8–17 years (M = 11.89; SD = 1.67). Children were administered an interview questionnaire that included the International Child Abuse Screening Tool, the Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Family Functioning in Adolescence Questionnaire. Results Approximately 30% of the children reported at least one incident of witnessing violence, 65% reported at least one incident of psychological abuse and 54% reported at least one incident of physical abuse over a 1‐year period. The results showed an overlap between children's reports of witnessing violence in their homes and physical and psychological abuse that were associated with adolescents' trauma symptoms. Family‐related variables significantly predicted three forms of child maltreatment. Conclusion These results highlight the importance of examining children's multiple experiences of violence in their homes in research designs, prevention efforts and policy mandates. However, it should be noted that estimates of prevalence (as opposed to estimates of the relation between variables which is relatively more robust to selection bias) are open to error because of the nature of our sample.