engleski

Prevalence of Children Exposure to Different Types of Abuse in Family: National Results for Croatia

As a part of international BECAN project, epidemiological research on child abuse and neglect has been conducted throughout Croatia using a multi-stage stratified cluster sample of pupils in three age clusters (11, 13 and 16 years old) and their parents. Final sample includes 3644 children and 2808 parents and represents more than 2.65% of the targeted population. The study used ICAST questionnaires modified according to BECAN project and in Croatian version of the questionnaire additional questions were included, based on the focus groups that were conducted in the preliminary phase of the study. In the ICAST- CH questions regarding general assessment of victimization in the family, bullying, Internet usage and religious practices were added and the ICAST-P was expanded using questions on stressful events, assessment of the child’s behaviour, own victimization, support in the upbringing of the child and attitudes regarding corporal punishment. Also, additional demographic questions were added to both of the questionnaires. The results show that the usage of aggressive parental methods is still quite common although 65.4% of parents are aware that there exists a law that prohibits physical punishment of children. The prevalence of physical punishment is 53.5%, 66.9% and 71.1% for 11, 13 ad 16 years old children, respectively. Physical abuse has the prevalence rates of 25.3%, 34.4% and 41.1%. The prevalence rates for psychological aggression are 56.7%, 77.7% and 83.4% and for psychological abuse these rates are 22.0%, 25.8% and 34.1%. The results also show that 4.8%, 10.9% and 16.4% of 11, 13 and 16 years old children have experienced some form of sexual abuse, respectively. The results that are specific for the Croatian questionnaire (i.e. experiences of children with peer violence, attitudes of parents towards physical abuse, etc.) will also be presented, along with the correlation analysis on various risk factors and socio-demographic variables.

BECAN; epidemiological study; violence against children

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