title: Child maltreatment: the Lebanese children's experiences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined the prevalence, risk factors and consequences associated with child maltreatment in the home.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was 1028 (556 boys; 472 girls) Lebanese children aged 8-17 years (M = 11.89; SD = 1.67). Children were administered an interview questionnaire that included the International Child Abuse Screening Tool, the Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Family Functioning in Adolescence Questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 30% of the children reported at least one incident of witnessing violence, 65% reported at least one incident of psychological abuse and 54% reported at least one incident of physical abuse over a 1-year period. The results showed an overlap between children's reports of witnessing violence in their homes and physical and psychological abuse that were associated with adolescents' trauma symptoms. Family-related variables significantly predicted three forms of child maltreatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results highlight the importance of examining children's multiple experiences of violence in their homes in research designs, prevention efforts and policy mandates. However, it should be noted that estimates of prevalence (as opposed to estimates of the relation between variables which is relatively more robust to selection bias) are open to error because of the nature of our sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Usta
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Farver
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Danachi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology