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Abstract
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An Australian-first study published in The Medical Journal of Australia today has found the maltreatment of children is widespread across the country.
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) surveyed 8500 randomly selected Australians aged 16-65 years and over, finding high prevalence of childhood maltreatment experienced by people of every age group.
It found that, in childhood aged up to 18:
32.0% had experienced physical abuse;
28.5% had experienced sexual abuse;
30.9% had experienced emotional abuse;
8.9% had experienced neglect; and
39.6% of respondents had been exposed to domestic violence between parents.
"It is sobering to learn these results," lead investigator Professor Ben Mathews, Principal Research Fellow at the School of Law at Queensland University of Technology, said.
"Some maltreatment types, especially sexual abuse and emotional abuse have been found to be strongly associated with mental disorders (including major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder) and health risk behaviours (including cannabis dependence, self-harm, and suicide attempt).
"In addition, many children experienced more than one type of maltreatment - that is, multi-type maltreatment..
Language: en |