Impact of child maltreatment on emotional symptoms and conduct problems: experience of Chinese children

Objectives Physical punishment as a form of discipline for children is very common in mainland China, but there is a paucity of information about the impact of maltreatment of all forms on Chinese children. Our aim was to... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives

Physical punishment as a form of discipline for children is very common in mainland China, but there is a paucity of information about the impact of maltreatment of all forms on Chinese children. Our aim was to determine whether different forms of maltreatment, including physical, emotional and non-contact, affect psychosocial well-being in Chinese children.

Methods

The study was a cross-sectional survey using self-completion questionnaires among children (aged 10-16 years) recruited from urban and rural schools in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China. Experience of maltreatment during the last year was measured by 21 physical, 12 emotional and five non-contact forms of punishment. Physical maltreatment was treated as a four-category variable (‘no’, ‘minor’, ‘moderate’, and ‘severe’), and other types of maltreatment were binary variables (‘yes’ and ‘no’). Psychosocial well-being was measured using the emotional symptoms scale and conduct problems scale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models were applied to assess the associations.

Results

There were 791 completed questionnaires. Preceding-year prevalence was 5.6% for minor, 27.6% for moderate, and 4.6% for severe physical maltreatment, 47.5% for emotional maltreatment, and 8.2% for non-contact punishment. For each type of maltreatment, there was a higher risk of abnormal emotional symptoms and conduct problems. For physical maltreatment, the risk increased with the severity from moderate to severe: children with experience of moderate and severe physical maltreatment were 2.50 and 3.72 times more likely to have emotional problems; for conduct problems the odds ratios were 2.62 and 11.69 respectively. 

Conclusions

We show data that maltreatment is associated with increased emotional problems and conduct problems among Chinese children. This highlights an urgent need for parenting education about the harm caused by maltreatment, and the benefits of less punitive approaches to discipline.