Role of Violence Experiences in Childhood on Mental Health of Individuals aged 18 Years and Older in Tehran, Iran

The history of violence against children is as long as human’s life. It has deep mental adverse outcomes on affected people from adulthood to death. The aim of this study was to assess the role of violence experiences in childhood on mental health of individuals aged 18 years and older in Tehran. It was a cross-sectional study. A total of 550 individuals aged 18 years and older residing in the 22 regions of Tehran were selected using cluster sampling. The data were gathered using the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (2011) developed by the World Health Organization and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier 1979). Data were analyzed in the SPSS17 using the t-test, one way ANOVA and logistic regression tests. The most important factors affecting violence experiences in childhood were as follows: gender, age, location of birth, marital status, education, job, income, mental disease in family, history of mental disease, addiction in family and alcohol consumption in family (p<0.05). Among the participants, 24.5% suffered from mental disorders. Three out of four domains of violence experiences in childhood were affecting mental health: not protecting by parents, household violence and social violence (P<0.001). The most important factors affecting mental health were as follows: violence experiences in childhood, alcohol consumption in family, addiction in family and district (p<0.001). Developing and adopting solutions and policies in the household level, schools and educational institutions level, local level and national level could result in reducing violence experiences in childhood and its mental outcomes in adulthood.