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Childhood Violence: Risks, Consequences, and Prevention Strategies

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2024) | Viewed by 1800

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Interests: adverse childhood experiences; maltreatment; child abuse

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exposure to violence in childhood is a global public health crisis of epic proportions. Violence against children refers to any act, or series of acts, of commission or omission experienced as a victim or witness, including, but not limited to, physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse, exploitation, neglect, or bullying that takes place in the home, institutional, or community setting.

Violence exposure in childhood frequently co-occurs with other forms of adversity and trauma—including living in environments shaped by interlocking systems of oppression with less access to the social and structural determinants of health.  Children targeted for or exposed to violence have a greater risk for the involvement of systems (e.g., child protective services, foster care, youth detention). They are also at greater risk for injury caused by violence (e.g., brain injury), health problems across the life course (e.g., infectious and chronic diseases, reproductive issues, mental health disorders and substance misuse), and social problems (e.g., homelessness, possible use of violence).

Childhood violence can be prevented. Because of the conditions in which childhood violence is more likely to occur, a socio-ecological framework that addresses the interplay between child, perpetrator, and environmental characteristics, across multi-level relational, structural and temporal contexts, and grounded in equity and justice, is particularly useful for understanding the complex dimensions of child victimization and for developing sensitive and effective prevention strategies.

This Special Issue is devoted to publishing valuable research on the causes and consequences of childhood violence, and on identification and effective prevention of childhood violence guided by health equity and justice frameworks.

Dr. Gia Barboza-Salerno
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • childhood violence
  • child abuse
  • violence exposure
  • adverse childhood experiences
  • violence prevention
  • health equity
  • health justice

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 437 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Mediation Analysis of the Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among South African Adolescents
by Steven J. Collings and Sachet R. Valjee
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(9), 1221; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091221 - 17 Sep 2024
Viewed by 766
Abstract
The available research findings suggest that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) constitutes an important public health issue, with identified risk factors for NSSI having been found to include exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and comorbidity with various mental disorders. However, the available findings have, [...] Read more.
The available research findings suggest that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) constitutes an important public health issue, with identified risk factors for NSSI having been found to include exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and comorbidity with various mental disorders. However, the available findings have, for the most part, been based on the experiences of individuals living in predominantly high-income countries located in the Global North, and it is not clear whether these findings can be confidently generalised to individuals living in low-resourced countries. As such, this cross-sectional study assessed risk factors for NSSI in a non-clinical sample of 636 South African adolescents (12–18 years old), with the data being analysed using a multi-mediation analysis. ACEs were assessed using a revised version of the ACEs Questionnaire, and NSSI was assessed using items adapted from the Self-Harm subscale of the Risk-Taking and Self-Harm Inventory for Adolescents, with emotion dysregulation, depression, and PTSD being considered as possible mediators. High prevalence rates for NSSI and exposure to five or more ACEs were reported by the participants, with the mediation analysis indicating that significant direct effects of adverse childhood experiences on NSSI were partially mediated by emotion dysregulation. These findings are discussed with respect to their implications for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood Violence: Risks, Consequences, and Prevention Strategies)
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Review

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33 pages, 699 KiB  
Review
Parenting Interventions to Prevent and Reduce Physical Punishment: A Scoping Review
by Isabel Garces-Davila, Ashley Stewart-Tufescu, Janice Linton, Julie-Anne McCarthy, Sonya Gill, Aleksandra Ciochon Newton, Samantha Salmon, Tamara Taillieu and Tracie O. Afifi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(11), 1539; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21111539 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 407
Abstract
Physical punishment is the most common form of violence against children worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of long-term adverse outcomes. Interventions targeting parents/caregivers are frequently implemented to prevent and reduce the use of physical punishment. This scoping review aimed to [...] Read more.
Physical punishment is the most common form of violence against children worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of long-term adverse outcomes. Interventions targeting parents/caregivers are frequently implemented to prevent and reduce the use of physical punishment. This scoping review aimed to map the existing literature on evidence-informed parenting interventions targeting physical punishment. A scoping review following the World Health Organization (WHO) Review Guide, the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) 2020 Guide for scoping reviews, was conducted to address the objective of this review. An academic health sciences librarian systematically searched electronic databases (EBSCO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS) for peer-reviewed journal articles. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, followed by a full-text review according to inclusion and exclusion criteria following the Participants, Concept, and Context framework. Eighty-one studies were included for full-text eligibility. The results suggest that most interventions examined were conducted in North America, targeted mothers and fathers, and were delivered in person. The results from this scoping review describe the state of evidence-informed parenting interventions to prevent and reduce physical punishment. This review found opportunities for future research to implement effective parenting interventions on a larger societal scale and use mixed methods approaches to evaluate parenting interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood Violence: Risks, Consequences, and Prevention Strategies)
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