Childhood Maltreatment: Experiences and Perceptions Among Chinese Young People

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate young Chinese people’s childhood and adolescence exposure to maltreatment from all types of perpetrators, and to explore their perceptions of such experiences. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1,255 young people at three universities located in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China. A questionnaire drawing on validated tools was developed to measure childhood and adolescence exposure to physical and emotional maltreatment. Physical and emotional maltreatment by any perpetrator before the age of 18 years was reported by 83.3% and 85.9% of the students, respectively; extreme forms were not rare. Overall, 68.8% of the students reported physical maltreatment by parents, 56.1% by teachers, 29.8% by peers, 11.7% by siblings, and 9.1% by grandparents; 58.5% reported emotional maltreatment by parents, 43.3% by teachers, 53.3% by peers, 12.0% by siblings, and 10.0% by grandparents. Physical or emotional maltreatment by any perpetrator was common in all sociodemographic groups, irrespective of urban/rural residence and economic status. Risk factors for maltreatment differ with type of maltreatment and perpetrator. Personal experience of emotional maltreatment was generally perceived as more harmful and less acceptable than physical, especially in females. In conclusion, high levels of maltreatment of children and adolescents in China indicate the need for (a) parent education about appropriate discipline measures when raising children, (b) teacher education and enforcement of existing laws banning institutional corporal punishment, (c) the adoption of a comprehensive anti-bullying strategy, and (d) the development of a formal child protection system to protect and support the most vulnerable families.

Interpersonal stress mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms: Findings from two culturally different samples

“…Therefore, this study tested the mediating effects for both childhood betrayal and non-betrayal trauma. As there could be cultural differences in the understanding of trauma (Chien and Fung, 2022), resilience (Yu et al, 2020), perceived harmfulness of childhood trauma (Ni and Hesketh, 2021) and social processes (Campos and Kim, 2017), we first examined the mediating effects in an English-speaking sample and then tried to replicate the findings in another convenience Chinese-speaking sample. Although there are methodological limitations in cross-sectional studies, a cross-sectional design is helpful to identify potential mediating effects and encourage further investigation of variables (e.g.…”

A Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Correlates of Emotional Violence by Teachers

“…Moreover, this study did not find differences in exposure to teacher bullying between mixed and single-sex schools (Delfabbro et al, 2006). One Turkish study found teachers working in urban schools to be more likely to use emotional violence than teachers working in rural schools (Kızıltepe et al, 2020), whereas three studies from different settings did not observe different levels of emotional violence in urban and rural areas (Delfabbro et al, 2006; Ni & Hesketh, 2020; Sheikhattari et al, 2006).…”

“…Students' gender and age. Twenty-two studies from different regions found that boys were more likely to report higher rates of emotional violence, whereas six studies did not find a difference between boys and girls (e.g., James et al, 2008;Ni & Hesketh, 2020;Pottinger & Stair, 2009) and two studies found girls to be more likely to report emotional violence (Benbenishty et al, 2019;Modin et al, 2015). Although most studies found boys to be more vulnerable to experiencing emotional violence, some studies reported unique or stronger relations between emotional violence by teachers and adjustment among girls compared to boys (Brendgen, Wanner, Vitaro, et al, 2007;He et al, 2019;Kassis et al, 2013;Pottinger & Stair, 2009;Reza et al, 2020).…”

Factors Associated With Non-suicidal Self-Injury in Chinese Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

“…Early traumatic experience is also an important factor associated with NSSI. In a survey of 1,255 Chinese young adults (ages 17 and 26), 83.3% reported childhood physical abuse and 85.9% reported childhood emotional abuse ( 44 ). A meta-analysis of childhood maltreatment found that overall childhood maltreatment was associated with NSSI (OR = 3.42, 95% CI = 2.74–4.26), and the effect sizes for maltreatment subtypes ranged from OR 1.84 (95% CI = 1.45–2.34) for childhood emotional neglect to OR 3.03 (95%CI = 2.56–3.54) for childhood emotional abuse ( 19 ).…”