Child maltreatment prevention: a content analysis of European national policies

Childhood trauma distribution and behavioural problems among Pakistani adolescents

BACKGROUND

Childhood trauma adversely impacts adolescents, and consequently, they develop behavioural problems. Understanding the distribution of childhood traumas and their association with behavioural problems among adolescents is paramount for the preventive efforts.

AIM/OBJECTIVE

The present research aimed to investigate this association among adolescents.

METHODS

This association was investigated among adolescents (N = 200) between 12 and 18 years. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire was used to assess the distribution of trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems among adolescents through purposive and convenience sampling technique.

RESULTS

The findings across trauma distribution indicated higher distribution of childhood abuse and neglect across males as compared to females. Males further significantly scored higher on sexual abuse and emotional neglect. Apparently, a large number of adolescents experienced all five sub types of childhood traumas (sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional and physical neglect). Additionally, across the severity continuum of childhood traumas, male scored higher on the severe to extreme continuum for all subtypes except physical abuse, where females scored higher. Lastly, logistic regression analysis indicated higher peer problems among those adolescents who have experienced all types of childhood traumas.

CONCLUSION

These findings could be beneficial for intervention-based programs and policies to help trauma-exposed adolescents cope with their lives.

Public Health Nurses in an Internal Negotiation Process When There Is Concern About the Child's Care

The aim of the study was to explore and describe how public health nurses at child health clinics experience and perceive the follow-up of children and families when there is concern about the child's care. The goal was to contribute to knowledge development to guide health-promoting nursing care for children and their families. Theoretical perspectives included health promotion, child-centered and family-centered care, in addition to nursing care. An exploratory qualitative design informed by a hermeneutic approach was used. Data were collected in 3 focus groups with 16 public health nurses and analyzed using latent content analysis. The findings detail public health nurses' internal negotiation processes in the follow-up of children and the family, and the ways these negotiation processes were influenced by various prerequisites, the approaches for follow-up, dilemmas that affected public health nurses' approaches, and prolonged dwellings on past responses to children and families of concern. The lack of routines and goals for follow-up, a dominant parental perspective, and ambiguity related to health promotion and disease prevention, all created challenges for the public health nurses. Based on these findings, a model of public health nurse's follow-up when there is concern about the child's care was developed for future research.