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

This study designed to enquire three first, to evaluate different forms of maltreatment and child abuse in 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. Through a multistage cluster sampling from 77588 male students 1443 students were selected as sample group. They completed Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (CATS) and abused students were recognized. In the second step, through a randomized systematic sampling 38 abused students and 40 nonabused students were selected. Parents of these two groups were assessed and compared by Quality of Life Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The most important forms of abuse reported here included emotional abuse and negative family environment (83.1%), inattentive and neglect (14.2%), and physical abuse (2.65%). Results showed that abusive parents had lower quality of life compared to their non-abusive counterparts. The former had lower life quality, as well. It seems that child abuse is related to lower quality of life and general health of parents.