Aim: To examine prevalence rates of child physical abuse perpetrated by a parent/caretaker, abuse characteristics and the extent of disclosures. Methods: A population-based survey was carried out in 2008 among all the pupils in three different grades (N=8 494) in schools in Södermanland County, Sweden. The pupils were asked about their exposure to violence and their experiences of parental intimate-partner violence. Data were analyzed with bi- and multivariate models and a comparison between means of accumulating risk factors between three groups were performed. Results: 15.2% of the children reported that they had been hit. There were strong associations between abuse and risk factors and there was a dose-response relationship between risks and reported abuse. It was shown that children who reported parental intimate-partner violence were at a considerably higher risk for abuse than other children and that only 7% of the children exposed to violence had disclosed this to authorities. Conclusion: Even though child abuse in Sweden has decreased markedly during the last forty years violence against children is still a considerable problem. It is a challenge to develop methods of assessment and interventions that will insure that the violence and its underlying causes are directly addressed.
Language: en
", language="en", issn="0803-5253", doi="10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.01792.x", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.01792.x" }