Children Witnessing Domestic and Family Violence: A Widespread Occurrence during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Ferrara, Pietro; Franceschini, Giulia; Corsello, Giovanni; Meštrović, Julije; Giardino, Ida; Vural, Mehmet; Pop, Tudor Lucian; Namazova-Baranova, Leyla; Somekh, Eli; Indrio, Flavia; Pettoello‐Mantovani, Massimo

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.04.071

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…5 Several studies have documented a surge in abuse-related physical and nonphysical trauma in children during this period. 6 Similar observations have been made after periods of economic decline or turbulence. 7 This commentary, authored by the Working Group on Social Pediatrics of the European Paediatric Association/ Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA/UNEPSA), briefly discusses the important relationship between the occurrence of traumatic events, particularly violence, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children.…”

supporting

confidence: 62%

“…Behavioral disturbances related to neurodevelopmental disorders have increased owing to numerous factors, including social, economic and health-related factors, 6 which have engaged various professional figures involved in the care of children, including educators, social workers, psychologists, and pediatricians. 29 A useful approach to violenceassociated neurodevelopmental disorders requires interdisciplinary collaboration and expertise in order to effectively challenge this phenomenon and to promote an advancement of knowledge in this field.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 In recent years, minors are increasingly witnessing violent events 14 or experiencing a combination of direct and indirect violence. 6,15 It also is not unusual for children to experience an overlap between maltreatment and witnessed family and domestic violence, which often takes place in the context of a violent community environment. 3,16 A significant number of children worldwide are exposed to traumatic life events.…”

Section: Physical and Emotional Traumatic Events In Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increased Exposure to Violence and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children

Ferrara

Franceschini

Corsello

et al. 2021

The Journal of Pediatrics

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xposure of children and adolescents to violence has significant short and long-term consequences in terms of academic, social, physical, and psychological functioning. 1,2 The relationship of exposure to traumatic events, including various forms of violence, with depression, anger, anxiety, dissociation, posttraumatic stress, and total trauma symptoms has been widely debated. [1][2][3] It is largely accepted that adverse early life experiences and abusive events suffered during childhood can cause profound effects on the development and function of the nervous system and increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. 4 Studies investigating the relationship between various types of neurodevelopmental disorders and exposure to violence and their consequences have been inconclusive. 3 The alarming phenomenon of family and domestic violence has increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 5 Several studies have documented a surge in abuse-related physical and nonphysical trauma in children during this period. 6 Similar observations have been made after periods of economic decline or turbulence. 7 This commentary, authored by the Working Group on Social Pediatrics of the European Paediatric Association/ Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA/UNEPSA), briefly discusses the important relationship between the occurrence of traumatic events, particularly violence, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Our aim is to raise awareness of these circumstances, which may occur during or following periods of social turmoil, as in the case of the 2009 economic crisis 8,9 and the COVID-19 pandemic, 10 and expose children to the risks of serious immediate and long-term effects on their health and well-being.

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supporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Physical and Emotional Traumatic Events In Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increased Exposure to Violence and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children

Ferrara

Franceschini

Corsello

et al. 2021

The Journal of Pediatrics

Self Cite

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“…Reasons could include increased exposure to social media, 20 inability to access usual supports and social activities that children use to regulate their mental health, 21 and family impacts such as financial stress, job insecurity, 22 and increased exposure to family violence. 23 Our analyses cannot account for unmeasured exposures that might affect child mental health, and as such, our data can confirm associations but not causality.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 63%

Association between COVID-19 restrictions and emergency department presentations for paediatric mental health in Victoria, Australia

et al. 2022

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Objective. To determine the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions and paediatric mental health emergency department presentations. Methods. Secondary analysis of Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset data from 38 Victorian public hospital emergency departments. Paediatric patients (birth to <18 years) attending emergency departments with an International Classification of Disease-Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) diagnosis of a mental health problem between 1 January 2018 and 31 October 2020 were included. We compared pre-COVID-19 (1 January 2018-27 March 2020) to the COVID-19 period (28 March-26 October 2020) to examine the number of mental health presentations by patient age, socioeconomic status, location, and emergency department triage category. A Poisson regression prediction model was built for each diagnosis group to predict the presentation number in the COVID-19 period, assuming the pandemic and associated restrictions had not happened. Results. There were 15 898 presentations (589 presentations/month on average) in the pre-COVID-19 period and 4747 presentations (678 presentations/month on average) in the COVID-19 period. Compared with predicted presentations, there was an increase in observed presentations for eating disorders throughout lockdown (on average, an increase of 36 presentations/month) and for anxiety (11/month) and self-harm (18/month). There were no meaningful changes for mood disorders or developmental and behavioural problems, and presentations for substance abuse mostly fell. Conclusions. Pandemic restrictions were associated with increased emergency department presentations for eating disorders and, to a lesser extent, anxiety and self-harm. Given the ongoing pandemic, clinicians and policy makers must work together to find timely, accessible solutions to better manage these conditions.

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“…Witnessing domestic violence and elder abuse could cause children more stress, which is devastating to their health condition (Perkins et al., 2018). Children's witnessing of domestic violence commonly involves physical, emotional, sexual, social, economic and spiritual abuse (Bhandari et al., 2008; Ferrara et al., 2021). The United Nations estimated that about 133–275 million children worldwide have witnessed violence at home (Pinheiro, 2006), whereas other studies have revealed that around one‐fifth of adults in the United States were exposed to intimate partner violence during their childhood (Black et al., 2010; Russell et al., 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health effects of children’s witnessing of elder abuse: Evidence from six major cities in China

Zhu

Cai

Wang

et al. 2022

Health Social Care Comm

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As a public health concern, elder abuse has been widely studied in various countries and regions (e.g. Roberto, 2016;Sooryanarayana et al., 2013;Williams et al., 2017;Yon et al., 2017). In the United States, the prevalence of elder abuse was found to range from 10% to 47%, depending on ethnicity, gender and type of abuse (Dong, 2015). In another study in Hong Kong, approximately 27.5% of older adults reported being abused in the preceding year, and 88.2% of the perpetrators of elder abuse were their adult children (Yan & Tang, 2004). Similar results were found in Taiwan, where it has been reported that 76% of elder abusers are adult children (Chong & Jiang, 2000). It is also estimated that 36.2% of older adults in rural areas of China experienced at least one type of abuse in the preceding year (Wu et al., 2012). Furthermore, one large-scale survey on families in six regions in China found that the lifetime prevalence of children witnessing elder abuse ranged from 8.3% to 14.3%, whereas the preceding year, this prevalence had ranged from 3.7% to 9.4% (Chan, 2014).Living arrangements, or more specifically whether elders live with their adult children, have been identified as a significant risk factor for elder abuse (Wu et al., 2012). Some researchers have also

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Children Witnessing Domestic and Family Violence: A Widespread Occurrence during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Cited by 17 publications

References 22 publications

Increased Exposure to Violence and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children

Increased Exposure to Violence and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children

Association between COVID-19 restrictions and emergency department presentations for paediatric mental health in Victoria, Australia

Health effects of children’s witnessing of elder abuse: Evidence from six major cities in China

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