Emotional Abuse Towards Children by Schoolteachers in Aden Governorate, Yemen: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The short-and medium-term effects of conflict on population health are reasonably well documented. Less considered are its consequences across generations and potential harms to the health of children yet to be born. Discussion: Looking first at the nature and effects of exposures during conflict, and then at the potential routes through which harm may propagate within families, we consider the intergenerational effects of four features of conflict: violence, challenges to mental health, infection and malnutrition. Conflict-driven harms are transmitted through a complex permissive environment that includes biological, cultural and economic factors, and feedback loops between sources of harm and weaknesses in individual and societal resilience to them. We discuss the multiplicative effects of ongoing conflict when hostilities are prolonged. Summary: We summarize many instances in which the effects of war can propagate across generations. We hope that the evidence laid out in the article will stimulate research and -more importantly -contribute to the discussion of the costs of war; particularly in the longer-term in post-conflict situations in which interventions need to be sustained and adapted over many years.

Alcohol and substance use in humanitarian and post-conflict situations

“…In Afghanistan, conflict and drug policy have been linked to a shift from traditional opiate use to the new pattern of opioid injection. In post-conflict Libya, a rapid increase in opioid injection with a subsequent HIV epidemic among drug users has struck the health system (3).…”

The impact of humanitarian emergencies on the prevalence of violence against children: an evidence-based ecological framework

“…However, the relationship between exposure to conflict or emergency events and violence against children does appear to exhibit a dose-response pattern, with more frequent and severe exposure predicting greater risk of violence against children (Catani et al, 2008(Catani et al, , 2009Haj-Yahia & Abdo-Kaloti, 2003). Further, correlations between exposure to conflict or emergency events and violence against children have been detected decades after the emergency has ended, though measurement of conflict or emergency events may be particularly subject to recall bias in studies with long time lags (Devakumar et al, 2014;Gupta et al, 2009;Saile et al, 2014).…”

“…Adults and older children with post-traumatic stress are prone to perpetrate interpersonal violence themselves (Catani, 2010;Catani, Jacob, Schauer, Kohila, & Neuner, 2008;Catani et al, 2009). The effects of post-traumatic stress on violence perpetration have been documented to persist over the lifecourse and across generations (Devakumar, Birch, Osrin, Sondorp, & Wells, 2014;Saile, Ertl, Neuner, & Catani, 2014). These long-term effects are often compounded by lack of educational opportunities for children growing up in emergencies and permanent disabilities caused by military victimization or other injuries (Charles & Denman, 2013;Qouta et al, 2008).…”

Human biology of poverty

“…It also raised awareness for emergent topics of research that need further investment. Among these are the effects of climate change on population health (Cecchi et al, 2009;Danysh et al, 2014), the effects of war on health (Clarkin, 2008) and the migrant crisis currently on-going in Europe (Clarkin, 2012;Devakumar et al, 2014;Santinho, 2015;Teixeira, 2008). We hope the articles in this issue promote and stimulate new research opportunities between human biologists, anthropologists, social scientists, and other researchers so that data sharing and interdisciplinarity pave the way towards a healthier, fairer and more equalitarian future with less poverty and disadvantage.…”

“…In extreme situations, such as war and other catastrophes, people are forcefully displaced. These refugees are disproportionately affected if they already live in poverty (Clarkin, 2012;Devakumar et al, 2014).…”