Different Forms of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, Quality of life and General Health in Parents of Abused Children

Objective: This study designed to achieve ۳ objectives: first, to evaluate different forms of child abuse among junior high school male students in Tehran, Iran second, to study quality of life and general health levels of abusive parents and third, to demonstrate demographic characteristics of abusers. Methods: Through a multistage cluster sampling a total of ۱۴۴۳ students were selected from ۷۷۵۸۸ male students. Then, they completed child abuse and trauma scale (CATS) and based on the results, abused students were recognized. In the second step, through a randomized systematic sampling, ۳۸ abused students and ۴۰ nonabused students were selected. Parents of these two groups were assessed and compared by quality of life questionnaire and general health questionnaire (GHQ). Results: The most important forms of reported abuse included emotional abuse and negative family environment (۸۳.۱%), inattentive and neglect (۱۴.۲%), and physical abuse (۲.۶۵%). Conclusion: Results showed that abusive parents had lower quality of life compared to their nonabusive counterparts. It seems that child abuse is related to lower quality of life and general health of the parents.