OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of child physical maltreatment (CPM) by parents in a city locating in central-western region of China and identify associated risk factors. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey was carried out among a randomly sampled population of primary school students' parents in Yuncheng City. Data on parental CPM during the past 3 months, definition of CPM, Parenting Scale, parent-child interaction attitudes, social support, socio-demographic background were collected by a self-report questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between CPM and related risk factors. RESULTS: Of parents from 1,394 primary school students, there were 595 (42.7%) and 301 (21.6%) of them reported that they had minor/severe CPM behaviors toward their children during the past 3 months, respectively. The risk factors that were significantly associated with both prevalence and frequencies of minor/severe CPM included child problem behaviors, overreactivity and hostility parenting. CONCLUSION: CPM by parents is not uncommon in China. More attention should be paid to programs that help parents learn parenting skills and use nonviolent child discipline.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of child physical maltreatment (CPM) by parents in a city locating in central-western region of China and identify associated risk factors. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey was carried out among a randomly sampled population of primary school students' parents in Yuncheng City. Data on parental CPM during the past 3 months, definition of CPM, Parenting Scale, parent-child interaction attitudes, social support, socio-demographic background were collected by a self-report questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between CPM and related risk factors. RESULTS: Of parents from 1,394 primary school students, there were 595 (42.7%) and 301 (21.6%) of them reported that they had minor/severe CPM behaviors toward their children during the past 3 months, respectively. The risk factors that were significantly associated with both prevalence and frequencies of minor/severe CPM included child problem behaviors, overreactivity and hostility parenting. CONCLUSION: CPM by parents is not uncommon in China. More attention should be paid to programs that help parents learn parenting skills and use nonviolent child discipline.