Background: Substance abuse is a social, and health problem in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran. One of its most devastating effects is domestic violence against children. This study examined the association between the history of parental substance abuse, and rate of child abuse in Ahvaz, Iran. Methods: This was a case-control study. The study population included all parents with high sch...

Kenny was placed in foster care because his community’s Department of Child Protective Services (CPS) determined that his family was “in conflict.” The placement was made after 10-year-old Kenny was seen at the local hospital’s emergency room for bruises, welts, and cuts on his back. According to his mother’s report to emergency room personnel, the boy “fell off of his Razor” (scooter) while ri...

EVEN THOUGH acts of child abuse have been committed throughout history (Zigler & Hall, 1989), widespread concern over child abuse as a significant social problem began as recently as the 1960s. Maltreated children have been an increasing focus of protection efforts, which may be due to frequent and intense attention from the media, general public, legislators, and health, mental health, and soc...

OBJECTIVE To extend the knowledge on long-term effects of childhood abuse in psychiatric patients to a large sample, the authors explored childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult inpatients over 1,040 consecutive admissions. METHOD The 947 patients were admitted to a tertiary-care military medical center. Each patient was interviewed, and abuse history, DSM-III-R diagnosis, and other char...

BACKGROUND Exposure to interpersonal violence, namely verbal and physical abuse, is a highly prevalent threat to women's health and well-being. Among older, post-menopausal women, several researchers have characterized a possible bi-directional relationship of abuse exposure and diminished physical functioning. However, studies that prospectively examine the relationship between interpersonal a...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between a history of physical and/or sexual abuse and current suicidality in college-age women. It was hypothesized that abuse history would significantly predict level of suicidality. A secondary hypothesis was that abuse status would predict attitudes about life and death. METHOD Female college students (n = 707) were scree...

1. Recognize the 10 commonly identified history elements and risk factors in the presentation of child abuse. 2. Identify the soft-tissue and skeletal injuries that are indicative of physical abuse. 3. Understand the complexity of the presentation of abusive head trauma and the key diagnostic findings. 4. Review the mandated child abuse reporting requirements for medical professionals. 5. Discu...