Identification of Child Maltreatment in Iranian Children with the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale

BACKGROUND: Child abuse and neglect is a worldwide problem and varies across many sociodemographic characteristics. AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of different types of child maltreatment in Iranian kids according to the reports of their caregivers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 562 mothers with the last child aged between 1 and 12 years were recruited based on purposeful sampling method in one pediatric referent Mazandaran province, Iran. Child maltreatment among eligible participants was assessed by a validated version of conflict tactics scale for parent and child. Data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation coefficient and one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Prevalence of emotional assault, physical assault, and child neglect were respectively 90.6% (509/562), 82.9% (466/562) and 78.8% (443/562), which were more frequent in preschool age children. Furthermore, different kinds of child maltreatments were correlated with each other (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Assessment of all forms of child maltreatment should be an important focus of evaluation in cases with one kind of child maltreatment. This is an important issue in preschool age children. Furthermore, this paper has some implications for health care providers in order to check some simple items to identify child abuse.