Abstract
Aims: identifying sleep disorders (SDs) in children who experienced child maltreatment.Methods: the study evaluated the sleep pattern of 123 children (from 2 to 10 years old), who received assistance with child maltreatment, based on the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) – applied in a medical consultation after confirmation of the veracity of the child’s report of a violation. The study applied the questionnaire to children seen by doctors in the sector for 11 months.Results: among the children evaluated, 66.7% had SDs. The sample profile was predominantly female (59.3%) and aged between 4 and 7 years old (48.8%). Physical violence was found in 40.7% of the children, in addition to sexual (35.8%), psychological (24.4%), negligence (14.6%) and other types of violence (OTV) (4.5%). SDs are significantly associated with sexual, psychological and OTV (p=0.016). Regarding the subscales, there was a significant difference between the age groups in the bedtime resistance (BR) factor score (p=0.033). The BR characteristic typifies sexual, psychological and OTV. Sleep anxiety (SA) typifies more psychological, sexual and OTV. Night awakenings (NAs) typify psychological, sexual and physical violence. According to the type of violence, significant differences were found in SA (p=0.039), NAs (p=0.026) and BR (p=0.004).Conclusions: the outcomes highlight the association between SDs and child maltreatment. Certain types of violence have a greater negative impact on children’s sleep and correlate with specific SD.
Highlights
The World Health Organization defines violence as “the intentional use of force or physical power against another person that results in injury, death, psychological damage or inadequate development” [1]
Among the types of violence, we have found physical violence in 40.7% (n=50) of the children, followed by sexual violence 35.8% (n=44), psychological violence 24.4% (n=30), neglect 14.6% (n=18) and other types 4.1% (n=5)
The fact that sleep disorders (SDs) in children not exposed to violence, according to a Portuguese study that applied the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) questionnaire, occurs in a prevalence of 24.3%
Summary
The World Health Organization defines violence as “the intentional use of force or physical power against another person that results (or is highly likely to result) in injury, death, psychological damage or inadequate development” [1]. In its report [1], the World Health Organization classifies violence against children into physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect. Neglect is prevalent (50%), followed by physical abuse (33.3%), psychological abuse (8.3%) and sexual abuse (8.3%) [3, 4]. It is important to highlight that the violence must be identified according to emotional or nutritional deprivation as well as reports of developmental failures, weight changes and schooling problems [3]
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