Relationship between domestic child abuse and mental health in children aged 10-13

Abstract

Objective To investigate domestic child abuse within one year before the survey being conducted in Grades 4-6 preliminary school students and explore the relationship between domestic child abuse and mental health problems including prevalence of mental disorders, anxiety, depression as well as children's self-awareness in this sample. Methods Screen Questionnaire of Child Abuse was used to screen all the students participated in the survey. For those students whose screen results were positive, further face to face interview was needed to verify the abuse history. Once a child was identified as abused one, a student without abuse history would be matched by sex and the same age. Both groups with abused history and without abuse history over past year were evaluated by the two child psychiatrists with diagnostic an statistical manual of mental disorder(DSM-Ⅳ) and mental health scales. Results 1500 10-13 year-old children received child abuse screening.23.73% students surveyed over the past year suffered child abuse in the family. The proportion of boys who were victims of domestic child abuse was 30.44% while 17.44% to girls (χ2=5.95, P<0.01). The proportion of male students who were victims of domestic abuse was two times that of female students. For all participants, 14.6% had been suffered one-way abuse, 5% for two-way abuse, and 3% for three-way abuse. Prevalence of anxiety disorder in abused students was higher than in non-abused ones (9.26% vs 3.45%, χ2=3.19, P=0.0015). Similarly, the rate of disruptive behavior disorder in abused students was higher than in non-abused ones(18.53% vs 9.22% χ2=3.61, P=0.0001). The total scores of The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorder was higher in abused students group than in non-abused students group while the total scores of Piers-Harris Children's self-concept Scale was lower in abused student group than in non-abused student group. Conclusion Domestic child abuse in 10-13 old-age students is a widespread phenomenon and abuse history over last year is associated with current mental health level. Key words: Domestic child abuse; Mental disorder; Anxiety; Depression; Self-concept