Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences

  Background and Objectives: Child abuse is one of the major health and social problems in all countries whichis affected by factors including cultural, social, family, and some characteristics of children. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of child abuse and some related demographic factors among pupils in the third grade of guidance school in Zanjan.

  Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011. A total of 410 students were selected by multistage random sampling. The structured child abuse questionnaire from ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool Children's Version (ICAST-C) was utilized. Questionnaires were distributed among the students of the selected schools and collected after being completed. To examine the relationship between variables, chi-square test and chi-square test for trend were performed.

  Results: The results revealed that about 78% of pupils reported emotional abuse, 56% physical abuse and 39% reported neglect. Emotional abuse exhibited positive associations with number of siblings and mother's age, and negative associations with birth order and father's education (p≤0.05). Physical abuse suggested direct associations with death of one of parents and number of siblings, while it showed an indirect association with mother's age (p<0.05). A Statistically significant positive associations between neglect and gender, number of siblings and birth order (p<0.05) were found.

  Conclusion: The findings indicate a high prevalence of child abuse, particularly emotional abuse among the pupils of the study, which necessitates education and training of parents thtough proper training courses in order to take steps to reduce child abuse.

  Key words: Child abuse, Guidance school students, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Neglect, Zanjan

  Funding: This research was funded by Research Committee of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.

  Conflict of interest: None declared.

  Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences approved the study.

 How to cite this article : Torkashvand F, Jafary F, Rezaeian M, Sheikh Fathollahi M . A Survey on Child Abuse and Some Demographic Factors Affecting Students of the Third Grade of Guidance School in Zanjan in 2011 . J Rafsanjan Univ Med Scie 2013 12(6): 447-60. [Farsi]