title: Risk and protective factors for physical and sexual abuse of children and adolescents in Africa: a review and implications for practice.
abstract: There is now conclusive evidence of the major and long-lasting negative effects of physical and sexual abuse on children. Within Africa, studies consistently report high rates of child abuse, with prevalence as high as 64%. However, to date, there has been no review of factors associated with physical and sexual child abuse and polyvictimization in Africa. This review identified 23 quantitative studies, all of which showed high levels of child abuse in varying samples of children and adults. Although studies were very heterogeneous, a range of correlates of abuse at different levels of the Model of Ecologic Development were identified. These included community-level factors (exposure to bullying, sexual violence, and rural/urban location), household-level factors (poverty, household violence, and non-nuclear family), caregiver-level factors (caregiver illness in particular AIDS and mental health problems, caregiver changes, family functioning, parenting, caregiver-child relationship, and substance abuse), and child-level factors (age, disability, physical health, behavior, and gender). These findings identify key associated factors that are potential foci of child abuse prevention interventions. In addition, there is a clear need for further rigorous longitudinal research into predictive factors and culturally relevant interventions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford Barnett House, Oxford, UK Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Franziska.Meinck@spi.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meinck
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford Barnett House, Oxford, UK Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lucie D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Cluver
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford Barnett House, Oxford, UK School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Boyes
authors.affiliation: Office on the Rights of the Child, Office of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
authors.forename: Elsinah L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Mhlongo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002657:Child Development; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: child abuse; cultural contexts; physical abuse; sexual abuse