title: Child maltreatment experience among primary school children: a large scale survey in Selangor state, Malaysia.
abstract: Official reports of child maltreatment in Malaysia have persistently increased throughout the last decade. However there is a lack of population surveys evaluating the actual burden of child maltreatment, its correlates and its consequences in the country. This cross sectional study employed 2 stage stratified cluster random sampling of public primary schools, to survey 3509 ten to twelve year old school children in Selangor state. It aimed to estimate the prevalence of parental physical and emotional maltreatment, parental neglect and teacher- inflicted physical maltreatment. It further aimed to examine the associations between child maltreatment and important socio-demographic factors; family functioning and symptoms of depression among children. Logistic regression on weighted samples was used to extend results to a population level. Three quarters of 10-12 year olds reported at least one form of maltreatment, with parental physical maltreatment being most common. Males had higher odds of maltreatment in general except for emotional maltreatment. Ethnicity and parental conflict were key factors associated with maltreatment. The study contributes important evidence towards improving public health interventions for child maltreatment prevention in the country.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Julius Centre University of Malaya (Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence Based Medicine), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Choo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wan-Yuen
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mary Joseph
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Marret
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Institute, General Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Cheah
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guat-Sim
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sajaratulnisah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Julius Centre University of Malaya (Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence Based Medicine), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Karuthan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chinna
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D004644:Emotions; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D000066550:Physical Abuse / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires