Abstract
ABSTRACT Background: Children with disabilities are more likely to experience violence or injury at school and at home, but there is little evidence from Central Asia. Objective: To describe the prevalence of disability and associations with peer violence perpetration and victimization, depression, corporal punishment, school performance and school attendance, among middle school children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Method: This is a secondary analysis of data gathered in the course of evaluations of interventions to prevent peer violence conducted in Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of the ‘What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme’. In Pakistan, the research was conducted in 40 schools, and disability was assessed at midline in 1516 interviews with Grade 7s. In Afghanistan, the data were from the baseline study conducted in 11 schools with 770 children. Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling was used to assess associations with disability. Results: In Afghanistan, the prevalence of disability was much higher for girls (22.1%) than boys (12.9%), while in Pakistan 6.0% of boys and girls reported a disability. Peer violence victimization was strongly associated with disability in Afghanistan and marginally associated in Pakistan. In Pakistan, perpetration of peer violence was associated with disability. In both countries, disability was significantly associated with higher depression scores. Food insecurity was strongly associated with disability in Afghanistan. Conclusion: Disability is highly prevalent in Afghanistan and Pakistan schools and this is associated with a greater risk of experiencing and perpetrating peer violence. It is important to ensure that all children can benefit from school-based prevention interventions.
Highlights
Children with disabilities are more likely to experience violence or injury at school and at home, but there is little evidence from Central Asia
The World Report on Disability estimates that 5 million people live with disabilities in Pakistan [2], there are no reliable estimates of disability among children in Pakistan [4], research suggests that the prevalence of intellectual disabilities among children in Pakistan may be higher than the global average [5]
In Pakistan and Afghanistan, data were collected as part of two separate, but comparable, studies of violence prevention interventions conducted with school chil dren
Summary
Children with disabilities are more likely to experience violence or injury at school and at home, but there is little evidence from Central Asia. Objective: To describe the prevalence of disability and associations with peer violence perpetration and victimization, depression, corporal punishment, school performance and school attendance, among middle school children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Peer violence victimization was strongly associated with disability in Afghanistan and marginally associated in Pakistan. In Pakistan, perpetration of peer violence was associated with disability. In both countries, disability was significantly associated with higher depression scores. The World Report on Disability estimates that 5 million people live with disabilities in Pakistan [2], there are no reliable estimates of disability among children in Pakistan [4], research suggests that the prevalence of intellectual disabilities among children in Pakistan may be higher than the global average [5]. Recent estimates for all disability levels among children aged 2–17 years in Afghanistan are as high as 17.3% [9]
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