Analysis of child abuse cases admitted in pediatric service in Japan. II. Backgrounds of child abuse in non-low birth-weight infants.
Child abuse of 126 non-low birth-weight (non-LBW) cases reported from pediatric clinics of major hospitals in Japan in 1986 were examined. Compared to LBW infants abused children's medical problems were few (25.4%) but the presence of step-parents and a history of rearing outside the home were evident (41.3%). The abuse of a child with medical problems by real parents showed similar characteristics to abuse of LBW, occurring at 0-1 and 4 years and two types of abuser's problems were apparent; one problem was the lack of child rearing ability and the other was the inability to cope with the stress involved in child rearing. In abuse of a child by step-parents, most abusers expressed emotional problems with their abused children. Child abuse by a real parent following a period of non-home care occurred soon after the child returned home, and abusers complained that the abused child did not take to its real parents. Abuse of a child without medical problems by real parents occurred at or around birth and indicated a poor ability to rear a child due to parental problems or low tolerance to cope with child rearing. Abuse both of a child and siblings by real parents implied a deficiency of understanding and inability in child rearing due to parental problems that may have resulted in abuse of the children at 0-1 year. It seems that two processes are critical in non-LBW child abuse as well as LBW child abuse.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Tanimura
M
M
Department of Child Ecology, National Children's Medical Research Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Matsui
I
I
Kobayashi
N
N
D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data