Prevalence of Child Maltreatment and Its Association with Parenting Style: A Population Study in Hong Kong

Longitudinal associations between child discipline methods and physical growth patterns across preschool years

OBJECTIVE

Research has documented the associations of child maltreatment with a range of physical health problems, but little is known about the physical growth patterns of children who experience maltreatment in early childhood. This study aimed to examine the association between various discipline approaches and physical growth in preschool-aged children.

METHODS

In the first year of preschool, parents of 661 Chinese preschool-aged children completed a questionnaire with items pertaining to the frequency of using physical maltreatment, psychological aggression, neglect, and nonviolent discipline toward the child. Children's weight and height were assessed annually using direct assessment in the first and two subsequent years. Longitudinal analyses were performed using multiple regression models.

RESULTS

More frequent neglect and psychological aggression during the first year of preschool were associated with a higher likelihood of a decreased BMI z score in subsequent years. Conversely, increased experience of physical maltreatment in the first year was associated with an increased likelihood of having overweight or obesity in the third year.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that early maltreatment experience can impact physical growth. This highlights the importance of preventing abusive parenting and encouraging healthy habits in young children who have experienced maltreatment to decrease their future risk for weight problems.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Relationship with Self-esteem Among School-Age Children in Jordan

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and their relationship with self-esteem among secondary school students in Jordan. A cross-sectional, retrospective design was utilized using a convenience sample of 559 secondary school children (grades 7-11). Results showed that among the participating students, emotional abuse was the most commonly reported type of abuse (59.6%), followed by household violence (52.2%), bullying (44.7%), physical abuse (31.7%), emotional neglect (26.3), physical neglect (12.7%), and parents' separation (5.2%). Male students reported significantly more physical abuse than female students (37.5% vs 26.2%, p < 0.001), and significantly more physical neglect than female students (18.2% vs 7.6%, p < 0.001). However, female students reported significantly more household violence than male student (60.0% vs 43.9%, p < 0.001). Self-esteem scores were lower for students who reported physical abuse (d = 0.38, p < 0.001), household violence (d = 0.25, p < 0.003), emotional neglect (d = 0.45, p < 0.001), physical neglect (d = 0.58, p < 0.001), and bullying (d = 0.29, p = 0.001). Self-esteem was best predicted by physical abuse (β =  - 0.114, p = 0.009), emotional neglect (β =  - 0.169, p < 0.001), and physical neglect (β =  - 0.148, p < 0.001). Efforts should be exerted to prevent violence against children. National programs and community awareness campaigns should focus on the violence's detrimental effects on children.

Neglect, online invasive exploitation, and childhood sexual abuse in Hong Kong: Breaking the links

BACKGROUND

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of maltreatment that involves a child in sexual activity that she or he cannot fully comprehend or is unable to give informed consent to. The empirical link between child neglect and contact child sexual abuse is well established but little research examines mediators that explain this link.

OBJECTIVE

This study tests online risk behaviors and unwanted sexual experiences online as sequential mediators of the neglect - CSA relationship.

PARTICIPANT AND SETTING

The study uses a representative cross-sectional sample of 1097 Hong Kong adolescents.

METHODS

Preacher and Hayes' (2008) non-parametric bootstrap approach was used to test three mediation hypotheses.

RESULTS

Baseline logistic regression models showed neglected children had 11.2 times higher odds of reporting contact CSA (p < .001). Similarly, neglect was associated with 3.5 times higher odds of more online risk behavior (p < .001), which in turn was associated with 2.7 times higher odds of more online invasive exploitation (p < .001). Online invasive exploitation was associated with 2.7 times higher odds of reporting offline contact CSA (p < .001). The study found online risk behaviors to be a significant mediator of the relationship between neglect and online invasive exploitation (unwanted online sexual experiences). Online invasive exploitation, in turn, mediated the relationship between online risk behaviors and offline contact CSA.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the importance of intervening against neglect as it appears to play a vital role in the etiology of contact CSA in Hong Kong.

Approaches and styles of mothers in sex education process of children and the related factors

INTRODUCTION

Sex education supports the development of suitable sexual behaviors in children. However, due to the limitations of sexual issues in Iran, parents may have different sex education styles. This study aimed to assess the styles of mothers in the sex education process of children and the related factors.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study, from March to May 2021, 306 mothers with a 4-12-year-old child who were referred to the comprehensive health service centers in Rasht city were entered into the study by a convenience sampling method. The tool was a questionnaire of parents' sex education styles. Data analysis was performed with independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the multiple linear regression model using SPSS software version 16.

RESULTS

The majority of the mothers had a mean age of 36.2 ± 6.4 years. The score of the authoritarian sex education style was significantly higher than the other styles (P < 0.001). According to the multivariate analysis, 40.6% of the changes in the strict style (R² = 0.406), 32.7% of the changes in the permissive style (R² = 0.327), and 36.1% of the changes in the authoritative style (R² = 0.361) were explained by the personal characteristics of the participants.

CONCLUSION

The authoritative style was a dominant sex education style. Identifying the factors associated with types of child sex education styles has an important role in promoting the health of children and the community. It is recommended that nursing policymakers identify related factors of sex education styles in mothers of different cultures, and therefore, implement training programs for empowering mothers.

Childhood maltreatment and parenting style associated school bullying in Chinese children and adolescents: An analytical epidemiology evidence

OBJECTIVE

The independent associations among childhood maltreatment (CM), parenting style, and school bullying in children and adolescents have not been adequately discussed. Epidemiological evidence of higher quality is still scarce. We intend to investigate this topic by using a case-control study design in a large sample of Chinese children and adolescents.

METHOD

Study participants were chosen from the Mental Health Survey for Children and Adolescents in Yunnan (MHSCAY), a mega ongoing cross-sectional study. The combined database from four study sites was used. The population-based case-control study was individually matched by study site, age, sex, race, left-behind status, whether a single child, and whether a boarding student.

RESULTS

Cases were observed to have a significantly higher prevalence of CM, higher scores for parental rejection and over-protection, and lower scores for parental emotional warmth. Multiple conditional logistic regression revealed that CM, especially emotional abuse (EA) and sexual abuse (SA), were associated with a prominently increased risk of school bullying involvement, with adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 2.28 (95 % CI: 2.03, 2.57) and 1.90 (95 % CI: 1.67, 2.17). Subsequent analysis further corroborated the robustness of EA-bullying and SA-bullying associations. Although parenting style generally showed a weaker association with school bullying, a higher level of parental rejection was related to an increased risk of bullying victimization.

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese children and adolescents who are victims of EA or SA, or experienced a higher level of parental rejection, are more vulnerable to school bullying. Targeted interventions should be designed and implemented.

Child Maltreatment Reporting Practices by a Person Most Knowledgeable for Children and Youth: A Rapid Scoping Review

Child maltreatment is a global public health and child rights crisis made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While understanding the breadth of the child maltreatment crisis is foundational to informing prevention and response efforts, determining accurate estimates of child maltreatment remains challenging. Alternative informants (parents, caregivers, a Person Most Knowledgeable-PMK) are often tasked with reporting on children's maltreatment experiences in surveys to mitigate concerns associated with reporting child maltreatment. The overall purpose of this study was to examine child maltreatment reporting practices in surveys by PMKs for children and youth. The research question is: "What is the nature of the evidence of child maltreatment reporting practices in general population surveys by PMKs for children and youth?" A rapid scoping review was conducted to achieve the study's purpose. A search strategy was conducted in nine databases (e.g., MEDLINE, EBSCO, Scopus, Global Health, ProQuest). The findings from this review indicate that most studies involved PMK informants (i.e., maternal caregivers), included representative samples from primarily Western contexts, and utilized validated measures to assess child maltreatment. Half of the studies assessed involved multi-informant reports, including the PMKs and child/youth. Overall, the congruence between PMK-reported and child/youth-reported child maltreatment experiences was low-to-fair/moderate, and children/youth reported more maltreatment than the PMKs.

Evidence of individual differences in the long-term social, psychological, and cognitive consequences of child maltreatment

BACKGROUND

The prevalence and consequences of child maltreatment are alarming, but evidence from studies with long follow-up intervals are limited. This study examined the long-term consequences of child maltreatment in relation to age of onset and follow-up interval.

METHODS

The exposed group comprised 63 individuals (aged 13-34 years) with a first-time diagnosis of child maltreatment between 2001 and 2010, whereas the unexposed group comprised 63 individuals who were matched upon gender, age of onset, follow-up period, and poverty status at the index hospital admission but had no medical records of maltreatment in Hong Kong. The participants completed a set of questionnaires on executive functions and mental health and provided blood samples for measurement of IL-6 and IL-10 levels during a health assessment session.

RESULTS

Compared with the unexposed group, the exposed group reported poorer maternal care during childhood (β = -4.64, p < 0.001) and had lower family support (β = -2.97, p = 0.010) and higher inflammatory responses (IL-6: β = 0.15, p = 0.001; IL-10: β = 0.11, p = 0.011) at follow-up. Additionally, the associations of childhood maltreatment exposure with family support and maternal care differed by age of onset and the length of time since exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

This matched cohort study highlights childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for systemic inflammation and an indicator of suboptimal social environment, both of which could persist over a long period of time.

Victimization by Caregivers: Prevalence and Risk Factors in Chilean Children and Adolescents

This study examined the prevalence and risk factors associated to victimization by caregivers in a national large sample of Chilean children and adolescents. 19,687 children and adolescents aged 12-17, selected by random probability sampling of 699 public schools in Chile who were surveyed by trained interviewers. Victimization by Caregivers was evaluated through a module of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ). The prevalence (12 months) for physical abuse were (12.9%), for emotional abuse (27.9%), neglect (5.3%) and parental interference (3.5%). The results suggest as risk factors, sex, age, migration status, disability, geographical location, and type of school. The findings highlight the urgent need to address the issue of child maltreatment and victimization by caregivers in Chilean society and minimize its impact.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on School-Aged Children's Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Sleep in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Repeated Measures Study

Despite concerns about the negative effects of social distancing and prolonged school closures on children's lifestyle and physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, robust evidence is lacking on the impact of the pandemic-related school closures and social distancing on children's wellbeing and daily life. This study aimed to examine changes in the PA levels, sleep patterns, and screen time of school-aged children during the different phases of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong using a repeated cross-sectional design. School students (grades 1 to 12) were asked to report their daily electronic device usage and to fill in a sleep diary, recording their daily sleep onset and wake-up time. They were equipped with a PA monitor, Actigraph wGT3X-BT, to obtain objective data on their PA levels and sleep patterns. Students were recruited before the pandemic (September 2019-January 2020; n = 577), during school closures (March 2020-April 2020; n = 146), and after schools partially reopened (October 2020-July 2021; n = 227). Our results indicated lower PA levels, longer sleep duration, and longer screen time among participants recruited during school closures than those recruited before the COVID-19 outbreak. Primary school students were found to sleep on average for an extra hour during school closures. The later sleep onset and increased screen time documented during school closures persisted when schools partially reopened. Our findings illustrate the significant impact of social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the sleep pattern, screen time, and PA level in school-aged children in Hong Kong. Professionals should urgently reinforce the importance of improving physically activity, good sleep hygiene, and regulated use of electronic devices for parents and school-aged children during this unprecedented time.

Promoting positive parenting and mental wellbeing in Hong Kong Chinese parents: A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective

Effective and brief positive parenting interventions could be adopted widely, but evidence is limited. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a positive parenting programme in Hong Kong Chinese parents.

Methods

We conducted a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in 2017 in 144 Hong Kong Chinese parents (84.7% women, mean age 42.5 [SD 5.87] years) of school-age children (mean age 10.9 [2.8] years) in 4 family service centres (clusters). The intervention included two 2-hour interactive talks (4 hours in total). The contents covered skills of giving praise, showing appreciation and playing enjoyable family games. The control group was offered the intervention after all the data were collected. Praise, appreciation and enjoyment related behaviours were measured as primary outcomes at baseline, 1 month and 3 months. The secondary outcomes were subjective happiness, wellbeing, personal health and happiness, family health, family happiness and harmony, and family relationship. After the completion of all assessments, five focus group discussions with the parents and four individual in-depth interviews with community service providers were conducted to explore their experiences.

Results

Compared with the control group (n = 69), the intervention group (n = 75) showed greater positive changes in appreciation and enjoyment at 3 months with small effect sizes (d = 0.42 and 0.32, respectively), and greater improvements in the secondary outcomes at 3 months with small effect sizes (d: 0.29–0.48). In the focus groups, the parents reported more praise to their children, better temper control, more focus on their children’s strengths and better family relationships. According to the service providers, most of the parents enjoyed the activities.

Conclusions

The brief intervention in community settings with the engagement of community service providers has shown preliminary effectiveness in promoting positive parenting and mental wellbeing of Hong Kong Chinese parents.

Trial registration

The authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this intervention are registered. The study reported in this manuscript is registered as clinical trial at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03282071. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03282071.

Heterogeneous adverse childhood experiences and cognitive function in an elderly Chinese population: a cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To identify the heterogeneity of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as well as their association with cognitive function in an elderly Chinese population.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS

The data were from the latest wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and a total of 7222 participants aged ≥60 were included.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Latent class analysis was used to identify the classes characterised by 11 types of ACEs. Cognitive function was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and cognitive impairment was defined by education-specific threshold MMSE scores. Logistic models were constructed to examine the relationship between ACE classes and cognitive impairment. Several childhood and adulthood confounding factors were considered.

RESULTS

Three ACE latent classes were identified. Of them, 76.09% were in the 'Low ACEs' class, 15.43% were in the 'Household dysfunction' class and 8.49% were in the 'Child maltreatment' class. The people in the 'Low ACEs' class seemed to have better childhood family financial situations and higher education levels. The population in the 'Household dysfunction' class tended to live in rural areas and have a higher proportion of men, whereas people in the 'Child maltreatment' class showed a significantly higher proportion of women and higher levels of chronic diseases. 'Child maltreatment' was related to a higher risk of cognitive impairment (OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.68), while the risk of 'Household dysfunction' was not significantly different from that of the 'Low ACEs' participants (OR=1.06, 95% CI: 0.90 to 1.26).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings supported differences in cognitive function in elderly Chinese people exposed to different types of ACEs.

Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Short Form) Across Genders, Time Points and Presence of Major Depressive Disorder Among Chinese Adolescents

Purpose

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) is a widely used self-report tool designed to assess juveniles' experiences of abuse and neglect. The current study examined the psychometric properties, particularly measurement invariance of the CTQ-SF in Chinese non-clinical adolescents and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods

Participants included 1,507 high school students (non-clinical sample) from Hunan Province and 281 adolescent patients with major depressive disorder (MDD sample) from The Second Xiangya Hospital. We examined the reliability and validity of CTQ-SF, confirm the five-factor model of the CTQ-SF. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the measurement invariance across genders, presence of depression, and over time.

Results

The CTQ-SF had good internal consistency in a non-clinical sample (Cronbach's α = 0.85) and MDD sample (Cronbach's α = 0.86). Good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.72) and Adequate validity were also observed. Good fit of the five-factor CTQ-SF model was confirmed in both samples. Multiple-group CFA confirmed that the CTQ-SF had the scalar invariance across genders and the presence of MDD, as well as over time.

Conclusion

The CTQ-SF is an effective and reliable tool for assessing child maltreatment in Chinese adolescents (non-clinical sample and MDD sample). The results suggest that the horizontal and longitudinal invariance of CTQ-SF are strongly established, which means CTQ-SF can be meaningfully used to compare outcomes among Chinese adolescents (non-clinical sample and MDD sample). The experience of child maltreatment, especially neglect (emotional and physical), was found to be common in Chinese adolescents.

Early-life activities mediate the association between family socioeconomic status in early childhood and physical fitness in early adolescence

The graded association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and physical fitness is evident, but little is known about the mechanism underlying this association. This study investigated the role of early-life activities as mediators of the longitudinal relationship between early-life SES and health-related physical fitness in 168 adolescents (51.2% boys; final mean age: 12.4 years old). In Wave 1 (2011–12), their parents completed questionnaires about family socioeconomic status (SES), parent–child activities, and child screen time. In Wave 2 (2014–15), participants’ physical activity levels were assessed through parent proxy-reports. In Wave 3 (2018–19), a direct assessment of handgrip strength, standing long-jump, and 6-min walk test (6MWT) performance was conducted. After controlling for demographic factors, results of mediation analyses revealed that (a) Wave 1 SES predicted Wave 3 long-jump and 6MWT performance; (b) child physical activity level in Wave 2 mediated the relation between Wave 1 SES and standing long-jump performance in Wave 3; and (c) recreational parent–child activities and child screen time in wave 1 mediated the relation between Wave 1 SES and 6MWT performance in Wave 3. Our findings suggest that the type and frequency of early-life activities play a role in the graded association between childhood SES and physical fitness in adolescence.

Risk of Child Maltreatment in Chinese Teenage and Young Mothers With Rapid Repeat Pregnancy: The Moderating Role of Family Cohesion and Support From Friends

Rapid repeat pregnancy (RRP) often occurs in teenage and young mothers. Mothers with a history of RRP are more likely to experience high stress increasing their risk of child maltreatment. Despite these challenges, some mothers can continue to cope adaptively. Social support may play a role in empowering these mothers to overcome the childbearing difficulties. Although the protective effects of social support are well recognized, there has been little evidence on the relative importance of sources of support. For example, whether support from family and friends is equally important in relieving parenting stress remains unanswered. RRP, a social phenomenon encompassing various adverse living and parenting issues, provides an ideal research context to investigate the role of family and friends in preventing child maltreatment. This study examined whether family cohesion and friends' support moderated the association between RRP and child maltreatment in young mothers. We recruited 392 Chinese teenage and young mothers from a population-based integrated young mothers supporting program in Hong Kong. Questionnaires on pregnancy history, family cohesion, social support, and risk of child maltreatment were administered. Moderation analysis was conducted to examine the effect of RRP on child maltreatment as a function of family cohesion or friend support. Results showed that RRP was associated with a higher risk of child neglect (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.72, p < .05) and physical maltreatment (aOR = 1.91, p < .01), and that family cohesion was more important than friend support in mitigating the risk of child maltreatment for mothers with a history of RRP. Our findings suggest that interventions for young mothers, particularly those with a history of RRP, should be family-based so the whole family can be empowered to tackle the childrearing burden.

Child neglect and eating habits in primary schoolchildren: A prospective study in Wuhan, China

Child neglect (CN) has been associated with eating disorders, but little is known about its prospective association with the eating habits (EHs) of children. This study aimed to assess the cross-sectional and prospective associations of baseline CN with six common EHs in Chinese primary schoolchildren. We analyzed two-wave data of 1102 children (aged 9.1 ± 0.5 years) in Wuhan, China. Baseline CN was investigated by the Child Neglect Scale. Baseline and follow-up EHs, including fruit, vegetables, milk, sugar-sweetened beverages, and high-calorie snack and breakfast consumption frequency, were assessed by the Food Frequency Questionnaires. The association of baseline CN with baseline/follow-up EHs was analyzed by the generalized linear model (GLM). The association of baseline CN with the change of EHs from baseline to follow-up was examined by the Generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, pubertal stage, and body mass index, GLM indicated that higher baseline CN was associated with lower frequency of consuming fruit/vegetables/milk/breakfast and higher frequency of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and high-calorie snacks at baseline, while it was only associated with lower frequency of vegetables/breakfast consumption and higher frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption at follow-up. GEE results indicated that children with higher CN had a more rapid increase for the frequency of fruit/milk/breakfast consumption and a steeper decrease for the frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption. In conclusion, higher CN was associated with unhealthy EHs. Yet simultaneously, children with higher CN have more scope to promote the health of their EHs. Targeting and reducing CN may be a promising approach for future interventions to improve subsequent EHs.

The association of child neglect with lifestyles, depression, and self-esteem: Cross-lagged analyses in Chinese primary schoolchildren

Child neglect robustly predicts many behavioral problems and adulthood mental disorders, but little is known about its association with daily lifestyles and psychological development during childhood, particularly in the longitudinal study. We aimed to examine the association of child neglect with physical activity (PA), screen time (ST), eating habits (EHs), and depression/self-esteem using a two-wave follow-up study of primary schoolchildren in Wuhan, China. Data of 1085 schoolchildren aged 8-10 years (boys: 53.5%) were analyzed. Child neglect, lifestyles, and depression/self-esteem were collected in 2018 (T1) and 2019 (T2). Autoregressive cross-lagged models (ARCLMs) were fitted to explore the interrelationships among these variables. In ARCLM including child neglect and lifestyles, higher child neglect at T1 was significantly associated with higher ST and more risky EHs at T2, while insignificantly associated with PA. In ARCLM including child neglect and depression/self-esteem, lower T1 child neglect significantly predicted a higher T2 depression, but insignificantly for T2 self-esteem. In ARCLM including all variables, child neglect still significantly predicted later ST and depression, but insignificantly predicted EHs. Our study underscores that child neglect is strongly intertwined with ST, EHs, and depression during childhood. The prevention of child neglect may promote some healthy lifestyles and depression in children.

Resting Heart Rate Mediates the Relationship between Parenting Style and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Chinese Children

Despite increasing knowledge of social and biological risk factors for callous-unemotional (CU) traits, relatively less is known about how these two sets of risk factors combine to affect these traits. The current longitudinal study investigated pathways from parenting style to CU traits via resting heart rate in a three-year project. Parents of 382 children completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire at Time 1 (children Mean age = 9.06, SD = 0.94, range = 7-11 years), with the heart rate data collected at Time 2 (M = 10.16, SD = 0.93, range = 8-13 years) and CU traits assessed at Time 3 (M = 11.06, SD = 0.94, range = 9-13 years). We found that parenting style and CU traits were associated with resting heart rate, and that structural equation modeling showed resting heart rate to partially mediate the effect of parenting style on CU traits. Specifically, higher levels of authoritarian parenting were associated with lower resting heart rate, which in turn was linked to higher level of CU traits. On the contrary, children in the context of authoritative parenting showed relatively higher resting heart rate, which was predictive of lower CU traits. Overall, findings have implications for understanding the etiology of CU traits in children and developing effective prevention programs for children with affective deficits.

Association between procrastination in childhood and the number of remaining teeth in Japanese older adults

BACKGROUND

Procrastination is associated with stress and unhealthy behaviors. The oral condition reflects the long-term history of an individual's stress exposure and oral health behaviors; however, empirical studies on the association of procrastination in childhood with remaining teeth in older age are limited. We investigated the association of procrastination in childhood with the number of remaining teeth among community-dwelling older Japanese adults.

METHODS

In total, 1616 community-dwelling senior residents of Wakuya City (Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) who were enrolled in the National Health Plan & the Medical Care System for the Elderly completed a self-administered questionnaire on the number of teeth. Procrastination was measured using a single binary question about timing of holiday homework completion in childhood. The number of remaining teeth was assessed via a questionnaire with response options of ≥20, 10-19, 1-9, and 0 teeth. Ordered logistic regression models with potential confounders (sex, age, maternal education, childhood socioeconomic status (SES), childhood maltreatment, conscientiousness trait) and mediators (adulthood SES, smoking history, alcohol use history) were estimated.

RESULTS

Forty-six percent of participants reported a higher tendency to procrastinate in childhood. The proportions of participants with ≥20, 10-19, 1-9, and 0 teeth were 39.6, 22.7, 24.0, and 13.7%, respectively. After adjusting for all covariates, a higher tendency to procrastinate in childhood was significantly associated with having fewer remaining teeth (odds ratio = 1.28; 95% confidence interval = 1.05-1.57).

CONCLUSION

A higher tendency to procrastinate in childhood was associated with having fewer remaining teeth in later life.

Child Victimization in the Context of Family Violence

Child victimization refers to all possible forms of violence experienced by a child. This issue examines multiple types of victimization through a comprehensive approach. To understand child victimization fully, it should be investigated within the context of family violence. The studies in this issue provide evidence of the prevalence of various types of child victimization. As well as child maltreatment and bullying, the emerging form of cyberbullying is examined in several studies. The family has always been the main focus around child victimization, with parenting style as one prominent example. Studies show that some parenting styles are associated with child maltreatment and therefore have suggested that parenting programs may be effective in reducing child victimization. This issue provides up-to-date studies from different regions around the world. It makes a significant contribution to the current debate in child victimization.