[Risk factors for emotional abuse in 844 adolescents].
OBJECTIVE
Emotional abuse and neglect is an under-recognized, but is a common form of child abuse. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for emotional abuse in adolescents.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey on emotional abuse was conducted by anonymous self-administered questionnaire in 865 adolescents randomly sampled from three junior schools in Harbin City. A total of 844 valid questionnaires were received. Risk factors were studied by multivariate non-conditional regression analysis.


RESULTS
Over the past year, 47.3% of the 844 respondents suffered from emotional abuse. Monovariate regression analysis indicated that emotional abuse was related to 19 factors, including children's health status, parental marital status, parental educational levels, family rearing patterns, family atmosphere and so on. Multivariate regression analysis showed poor children's health status (OR=1.877, P=0.001), bad parental marital status (OR=1.768, P=0.004), and unjustifiable family rearing patterns [over-interference (OR=3.004, P=0.006) and assentation (OR=5.430, P=0.032)] were risk factors for the occurrence of emotional abuse. The harmonious family atmosphere and the harmonious relations between children and their parents were protective factors for emotional abuse.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of emotional abuse is high in adolescents. Poor children's health status, bad parental marital status and unjustifiable family rearing patterns are risk factors for the occurrence of emotional abuse.
Qin
Li-Zhen
LZ
Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Maternal Health Care, Public Health College, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.
Sun
Yu-Ye
YY
Xia
Wei
W
Chen
Su-Fen
SF
Zhang
Hui-Ying
HY
D000293:Adolescent; D002649:Child Abuse; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors