The association between child maltreatment and emotional, cognitive, and physical health functioning in Vietnam
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Public Health
Abstract
There is a paucity of research on correlates of child maltreatment in limited-resource countries with a
relatively high tolerance of harsh discipline. This Vietnamese study aimed to investigate associations between
different types of child maltreatment and child emotional, cognitive, and physical health functioning as well as
moderation effects of gender and ethnicity.
This cross-sectional study was conducted with 1851 randomly selected students aged 12–17 years. Both
self-report and more objective measures (weight, height, study ranking, and a memory test) were used.
All types of child maltreatment were associated with emotional dysfunctioning. Life time and past year
experiences of physical abuse and life time experiences of sexual abuse and neglect were related to poorer
perceived physical health. The study did not find associations between any type of child maltreatment and
overweight or underweight status. Regarding cognitive functioning, life time experience of sexual abuse and
neglect were related to poorer working memory performance. Noticeably, emotional abuse was related to better
academic performance, which might be an indication of “tiger parenting” practice in Vietnam, implying academic
performance stimulation at the expense of emotional security. No significant moderation effects by gender and
ethnicity were found.
Even in a culture in which harsh discipline is normative, child maltreatment was related to negative
aspects of child wellbeing including emotional, cognitive, and physical health functioning. Efficient and low-cost
interventions on child maltreatment should be developed and conducted in Vietnam as well as other countries
with similar contexts
Description
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Article
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Keywords
child maltreatment, child abuse, emotional problems, health, cognitive functioning, International Resources, Vietnam
Citation
Tran, N. K., Van Berkel, S. R., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Alink, L. R. A. (2017). The association between child maltreatment and emotional, cognitive, and physical health functioning in Vietnam. BMC Public Health, 17, 332.