Citation

Ahmed A, Wan-Yuen C, Marret MJ, Guat-Sim C, Othman S, Chinna K. PLoS One 2015; 10(3): e0119449.

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.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Public Library of Science)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0119449

PMID

25786214

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.

Language: en