Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug:118:105156.
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105156. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Violence and abuse experiences and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 outbreak in a population-based sample of Norwegian adolescents

Else-Marie Augusti  1 , Sjur Skjørshammer Sætren  2 , Gertrud S Hafstad  3
Affiliations

Violence and abuse experiences and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 outbreak in a population-based sample of Norwegian adolescents

Else-Marie Augusti et al. Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Background: The lockdowns occurring across society because of the COVID-19 pandemic have had far-reaching consequences for children and adolescents. One immediate concern was what the impact of the comprehensive disease control measures on rates of violence and abuse against children and adolescents would be.

Objective: We aimed to establish rates of child abuse and degree of family conflict during the first COVID-19 lockdown spring 2020. Additionally, we aimed to investigate associations between preexisting and concurrent risk factors and abuse during these unique times.

Participants and setting: A total of 3545 Norwegian 13- to 16-year-olds participated in this study. A total of 1944 of these had provided data 1 year before the lockdown.

Methods: We used a web survey format to assess abuse exposure and associated risk factors. The survey was administered in schools during school hours in June 2020, shortly after the reopening of schools after the first lockdown.

Results: In this sample 8.2% reported psychological abuse during lockdown, 2.4% had experienced physical abuse and 1.4% sexual abuse. For online sexual abuse, the rate was 5.6% during this time period. Adolescents did not report an increase in family conflict. Concurrently perceived family affluence and family risk factors were most strongly associated with physical abuse during lockdown (OR = 11.01(95% CI 5.32-22.84); OR = 5.36 (95% CI 2.69-10.67)), but also other types of child maltreatment. Analyses across assessment points suggested that prior victimization was the most accurate predictor of abuse experiences during lockdown (OR = 3.84 (95% CI 2.85-5.20)).

Conclusions: The negative consequences of the COVID-19 preventative measures struck the adolescent population unevenly. The findings underscore the need for targeted measures to mitigate the negative outcomes of health-related crises for adolescents in risk groups such as those with low family affluence and prior abuse experiences.

Keywords: Adolescents; COVID-19; Child abuse; Population sample; Violence against children.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

References

    1. Aho N., Gren-Landell M., Svedin C.G. The prevalence of potentially victimizing events, poly-victimization, and its association to sociodemographic factors: A Swedish youth survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2016;31(4):620–651. - PubMed
    1. Aho N., Proczkowska-Björklund M., Svedin C.G. Victimization, polyvictimization, and health in Swedish adolescents. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics. 2016;7:89–99. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barboza G.E., Schiamberg L.B., Pachl L. A spatiotemporal analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on child abuse and neglect in the city of Los Angeles, California. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2020;116 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baron E.J., Goldstein E.G., Wallace C.T. Suffering in silence: How COVID-19 school closures inhibit the reporting of child maltreatment. Journal of Public Economics. 2020;190 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhopal S., Buckland A., McCrone R., Villis A.I., Owens S. Who has been missed? Dramatic decrease in numbers of children seen for child protection assessments during the pandemic. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2021;106(2):e6. - PubMed