Investigation of child maltreatment: Survey among junior school pupils in Henan province of China

Abstract

This study is to examine the prevalence of child maltreatment and its association with attachment and self-esteem among junior schools students in Henan province of China. Seven hundred thirty-six pupils were selected from two public schools. Data were collected with the self-reported questionnaires of the basic demographic information, the Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. In this study, the prevalence of emotional neglect, physical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse were 22.8%, 38.0%, 11.0%, 10.6%, and 7.1%, respectively. There was a significant difference between male and female pupils in the prevalence of the physical neglect (Pearson χ(2) = 16.27, P < 0.01), sexual abuse (χ(2) = 15.38, P < 0.01), and physical abuse (χ(2) = 11.55, P < 0.01). In addition, physical neglect was the most common reported by pupils in the child maltreatment. Drinking habit of the mother was a significantly risk factor for emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect. Child abuse is still a severe social and psychological problem, and child neglect is more common than child abuse. It is noteworthy that mothers with drinking habit were more likely to abuse their own children than fathers with drinking habit.