Assessing the Rate of Child Abuse in the Covid-19 Epidemic and its Effect on students' Psychological Distress

The present study was conducted with the aim of assessing the rate of child abuse in the Covid-19 epidemic and its effect on students' psychological distress. This research was a descriptive correlational study that was conducted in the research community of Ardakan students in the academic year of 2022-2023. 412 people were selected voluntarily and answered the questionnaires of misbehaving with children and psychological distress. To analyze the data, Pearson correlation and multiple regression were used simultaneously. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between mistreatment of children (and psychological, physical and neglect dimensions) with psychological distress (P<0.001). The results of the regression test also showed that 49% of psychological distress is explained by the linear combination of psychological dimensions and parental neglect. The covid-19 epidemic has been accompanied by an increase in the psychological pressure of parents, the risk of misbehaving with children, and the psychological distress of children, which shows the need for effective intervention.