TY - JOUR PY - 2015// TI - Effects of intimate partner violence on child maltreatment among women in Colombia JO - Annals of global health A1 - Mirzakazemi, T. A1 - Kesinger, M. A1 - Puyana, J. A1 - Fandino, A. A1 - Bonilla Escobar, F. SP - 209 EP - 210 VL - 81 IS - 1 N2 - Program/Project Purpose 37% of Colombian women report being victims of physical abuse and 42% report physically punishing their children. We need to gather more informations about the clustering of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Child Maltreatment (CM) so as to establish a cause-and-effect relationship, especially in developing countries where the specific cultural and socioeconomic context might play an important role. Determining if IPV has a mediating effect on CM would help us identify at-risk populations so as to implement more appropriate interventions. Structure/Method/Design Our data was gathered from the Colombian Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2010, which sampled over 41,000 women and over 37,000 households across 6 regions and 16 sub-regions in the country, distributed proportionately between urban and rural zones. To be included in our study, the respondent had to be a woman of reproductive age (15-49yo), currently living with her child (1-17yo) and partner, must be responsible for disciplining her child. The number of women who met the above listed criteria was 17,879. The analysis of the variables provided us with an odds ratio which allows us to determine any existing mediating effects that IPV may have between the mother's background (independent variables such as education level, age and wealth index) and our outcome (child maltreatment as physical punishment of child). Outcomes & Evaluation The study found that risk factors for CM are the presence physical and psychological abuse during the mother's childhood, being Afro-Colombian, a lower education level, a lower wealth index are all risk factors that would increase the likelihood of CM. Physical and psychological IPV are mediating variables which strongly increase the risk of CM; however, the effect of sexual IPV was not statistically significant. Protective factors are increased age and being Native Colombian. Going Forward This study only considers child maltreatment from the perspective of physical punishment, without considering psychological or emotional forms of punishment. Other factors, like employment status, should be taken into account due to possible confounding effects. Further analysis should include these factors into the final outcome. In Colombia, prevention strategies and effective interventions designed to decrease the incidence of CM should target Afro-Colombian women and populations with low education levels and wealth indices. By offering care and support to women who are victims of physical and psychological IPV in developing countries would not only decrease the disease burden caused by IPV but also diminish their risk of perpetrating violent acts toward their children.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2214-9996 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2015.02.982 ID - ref1 ER -