Abstract
To describe the factors associated with domestic violence against Brazilian adolescents. Descriptive analysis of the variables and calculation of the prevalence of intrafamily violence reported by the students was performed, followed by multinomial regression with calculation of the adjusted odds ratio to analyze the association between the variables and the outcome investigated. Black skin color (ORa = 1.9; 95%CI 1.4 - 2.7) and brown (ORa = 1.4; 95%CI 1.0 - 1.9), insomnia (ORa = 1.8; 95%CI 1.4 - 2.4), bullying (ORa = 2.5; 95%CI 1.7 - 3.7) and alcohol consumption (ORa = 1.5; 95%CI 1.1 - 1.9) increased the chances of adolescents suffering an episode of intrafamily violence. Bullying (ORa = 3.9; 95%CI 2.8 - 5.3) and alcohol consumption (ORa = 2.2; 95%CI 1.7 - 2.7) contributed up to 4 times more not to suffer more than one episode of domestic violence. Habits such as eating with family (ORa = 0.7; 95%CI 0.5 - 1.0) and having parents who understand their problems (ORa = 0.6; 95%CI 0.5 - 0,7) proved to be protective factors for intrafamily violence. Intrafamily violence against adolescents is related to family interactions, psychoactive substance use and violence in the school environment. Thus, it reveals the importance of the participation of parents and guardians in the prevention of violence and risk behaviors in the lives of Brazilian adolescents.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Brazilian Ministry of Health consider violence a serious public health issue, and children and adolescents are the main victims of all types of violence, especially domestic[1,2]
Adolescents who experienced more than one episode of domestic violence were aged 13 to 15 years – 8.6% (95%CI 7.6 – 9.6), males – 8.6% (95%CI 7.4 – 10.0), had insomnia – 13% (95%CI 11.0 – 15.0), were victims of bullying – 20% (95%CI 17.0 – 23.0), smoked – 21% (95%CI 17.0 – 26.0), and consumed alcoholic beverages – 12.5% (95%CI 10.8 – 14.4) (Table 1)
After adjusting the multivariate analysis, the students who remained with a higher chance of experiencing domestic violence once were black (ORa = 1.9; 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) 1.4 – 2.7) and multiracial adolescents (ORa = 1.4; 95%CI 1.0 – 1.9), those who reported insomnia (ORa = 1.8; 95%CI 1.4 – 2.4), declared being victims of bullying rarely or sometimes (ORa = 1.7; 95%CI 1.4 – 2.1) and most of the time (ORa = 2.5; 95%CI 1.7 – 3.7), and consumed alcoholic beverages (ORa = 1.5; 95%CI 1.1 – 1.9)
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Brazilian Ministry of Health consider violence a serious public health issue, and children and adolescents are the main victims of all types of violence, especially domestic[1,2]. The family – understood as a unit of protection and support – is becoming a source of violence and aggression, with one in every ten Brazilian adolescents claiming to have experienced physical abuse by a relative in 20123,4. National and international studies underline the concern with the high prevalence of violence against children and adolescents in the world, indicating the need for interventions in this area[6]. PeNSE is a survey conducted with 6th to 9th-grade elementary school students (former 5th and 8th grades) and 1st to 3rd-grade high school students that monitors several topics on adolescent health, including domestic violence or abuse, which has grown over the successive editions of PeNSE – 9.5% in 2019, 10.6% in 2012, reaching a prevalence of 14.5% in 20154
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