Investigating the prevalence of child abuse in the families with addicted parents in Iran: With emphasis on family risk factors

Abstract

Introduction: Violence against children has become rampant, especially among the families with addicted parents. Accordingly, the present research was conducted to investigate the prevalence of child abuse among the families with addicted parents in the west of Iran taking into account family risk factors. Methodology: The present research was performed with a cross-sectional design. The statistical population included all the addicted parents having the 6-12-year-old children who referred to the Narcotic Treatment Centers in Kermanshah province, Iran during 2017-2018, among which 273 subjects were randomly selected to be included in the study and filled out the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of physical and psychological abuse was equal to 43.2%. After controlling the influencing variables, child abuse among the boys was reported to be 0.67 times more than that of the girls. Furthermore, with the increase in the number of siblings, the chances of child abuse were escalated so that, those with three or more than three siblings were 2.92 times more likely to be abused than those without siblings. Being a homemaker mother increased the chance of child abuse by 0.62 times, and the occurrence of psychological problems in the family increased the chance of child abuse by 2.56 times. The chance of child abuse among the parents who were both addicted was 2.66 times more than the families where the father alone was addicted. Conclusion: Given high prevalence of child abuse among the families with drug-addicted parents, supportive organizations are required to play a more prominent role, and it would be also essential to provide effective care programs for empowerment of the children.

Risk of Child Abuse and Its Predictors in Mothers with Children Under 5 Years Old

“…Gender of the last child Previous studies have shown that factors such as family size, low educated parents, being a young mother, poverty, parenting skills, parental addiction, parental occupation, social support network, age and gender of the child, physical and mental disability, and homelessness increase the risk of child abuse [27,28]. The results of the present study also confirmed that the mother's education and occupation, the spouse's occupation and addiction status of the spouse, and the family income could predict the risk of child abuse.…”

Design and evaluation of child abuse web-based application for parent education & strengthen

“…Unofficial statistics indicate the prevalence of this phenomenon in Iran and these statistics are reported through social emergency. In this way, in 2018, almost 14,000 calls related to child abuse were reported to the social emergency system and after verification, the occurrence of child abuse was confirmed in about half of them [ 15 ]. Child abuse in Iran ranks first among domestic violence and daily 20 to 25 cases of child abuse are registered by social emergency [ 16 ].…”

The effect of parenting skills training on attitudes toward child abuse in mothers referring to health centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran in 2019

“…In industrial countries, according to self-report, the annual parents reported 4-16% of physical harassment, 1.4-15.4% of neglect and 10.3% of mental harassment (Zeanah & Humphreys, 2018). According to a report released in 2016 in Iran, the most misbehavior cases with child was related to physical harassment (70.6%) by parents, of which about 20% of children were between 6 and 11 years old (in Ahvaz in 2010), , the abundance of physical harassment 67.6% and 70% emotional harassment and (Farnia et al,2020). Complications and consequences of misbehavior with the child are countless.…”