Individual, familial and community determinants of child physical abuse among high-school students in China

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.03.001

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 68, Issue 10, May 2009, Pages 1819-1825

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.03.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

While many risk factors for child physical abuse are known, little research exists examining these in multilevel contexts including both individual and environmental influences. The authors examined the roles of individual-, family- and community-level factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) in determining the likelihood of child physical abuse in Guangzhou, China. Twenty-four schools were recruited by stratified random sampling, with 6628 junior high-school students aged 13–16 years participating. Parental child physical abuse experience, together with family and community levels of SES among students were measured and their relationships were investigated by applying univariable, multivariable and multilevel logistic regression models. Univariable, multivariable and multilevel logistic regression models were applied. Six-month prevalence of minor, severe and very severe assaults were 23.2%, 15.1% and 2.8%, respectively. A U-shaped association between family SES and likelihood of severe assaults was identified. In the multilevel model, indicators of low family SES, mother's higher occupational and educational status remained significantly independent predictors of physical abuse. Internal migration status was associated with higher risk as was younger age. The authors suggest that previous categories of risk factors for physical abuse may be too simplistic, and that further research on social and environmental influences may usefully inform intervention programs.

Section snippets

Sample

The study population consisted of students in years 1–3 of junior high school (ages 13–16 years), with schools being used as recruitment sites. The choice of this age group was largely dependent on students' ability to complete the self-administered questionnaire for physical abuse. A list and details of all eligible (192) public schools in Guangzhou was obtained from the Education Bureau – they were then randomised based on the stratified sampling methods described below. Schools were

Results

The absolute number of children reporting minor assaults, severe assaults and very severe assaults in the previous 6 months was 1532 (23.3%), 998 (15.1%) and 184 (2.8%), respectively, while 73.2% of students reported no physical abuse. The variation between schools in reported abuse was greater than the variation between districts. The proportion of students reporting severe or very severe abuse ranged from 12.8% to 19.5% among the 8 districts and from 9.7% to 29.6% among the 24 schools. The

Discussion

This study confirms previous reports that child physical abuse is common in China; 26.8% of respondents reported having been physically assaulted by their parents in the previous 6 months, with 15.1% and 2.8% of them reporting severe and very severe assaults, respectively. Of particular interest was the U-shaped association found between some individual parental SES indicators and occurrence of physical abuse, which was somewhat unexpected given that past research has indicated that the risk of

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