Psychological and physical abuse towards four-year-old children as reported by their parents: A national Finnish survey

Date

2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Child Abuse & Neglect

Abstract

In Finnish society, child maltreatment is a health and social problem with harmful consequences. Identifying families at risk may help preventing child maltreatment recurrence.

Objective The aim of this nationwide retrospective cross-sectional study was to describe the child- and family-related risk factors associated with physical and psychological abuse experienced by 4-year-old children.

Methods This study analyzed nationwide survey data collected by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Overall, 17,009 parents (46%) visiting at a child health clinic filled out the survey consent form. For 8720 children, one or both parents completed the questionnaire (24%). Analyses were carried out using χ2 tests and binary logistic regression.

Results Of the 4-year-olds, 44% had experienced at least one form of psychological abuse and 14% physical abuse. These forms of violence co-occurred in 25% of the reported cases (p < 001). Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment co-occurred in 19.6% of psychological abuse (p < .001) and 22.5% of physical abuse cases (p < .001). Parents exposed to IPV was the risk factor most likely to predict an increased risk for both psychological abuse (OR 4.01, CI 3.41–4.72; p < .001), and physical abuse (OR 2.19, CI 1.81–2.64; p < .001). Approving of hair-pulling or pinching the child (i.e., using corporal punishment) was most likely to predict an increased risk of physical abuse (OR 13.70, CI 11.69–16.06; p < .001).

Conclusions The findings emphasize the importance of preventing all forms of child maltreatment by identifying families at risk and supporting parenthood according to families' needs.

Description

Keywords

child abuse, research, Finland, International Resources, Binary logistic regression, parents, risk factors

Citation

Leppäkoski, T., Vuorenmaa, M., & Paavilainen, E. (2021). Psychological and physical abuse towards four-year-old children as reported by their parents: A national Finnish survey. Child Abuse & Neglect, 118, 105127.

DOI