@article{ref1,
title="Child maltreatment and neglect in the United Arab Emirates and relationship with low self-esteem and symptoms of depression",
journal="International review of psychiatry",
year="2021",
author="Shah, Syed M. and Nowshad, Gul and Dhaheri, Fatima Al and Al-Shamsi, Mariam H. and Al-Ketbi, Alfan M. and Galadari, Alaa and Joshi, Priyam and Bendak, Heba and Grivna, Michal and Arnone, Danilo",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To our knowledge, this study is the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to investigate the prevalence of child maltreatment in relation to depressive symptoms and self-esteem. STUDY DESIGN: Exposure to physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect was evaluated in 518 adolescents (86% response rate) randomly selected from schools in Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure self-esteem and depressive symptoms by using multivariate logistic regression analyses. <br><br>RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 14.3 years. Emotional abuse was the most frequent form of maltreatment (33.9%), physical abuse (12.6%) and neglect (12.1%) followed. Male sex was a positive predictor of physical abuse (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.18-3.77), whilst higher maternal level of education was protective (OR = 0.40; 95% CI 0.19-0.86). Daily screen time (OR = 2.77; 95% CI 1.17-6.56) and tobacco smoking (OR = 1.86; 95% CI 1.09-3.18) positively predicted emotional abuse. Emotionally maltreated and neglected participants were less likely to report high level of self-esteem and more likely to report symptoms of depression. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Child maltreatment in the UAE is of a similar magnitude to what reported in other countries around the world and significantly associated with low self-esteem and depressive symptoms.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0954-0261",
doi="10.1080/09540261.2021.1895086",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2021.1895086"
}