Prevalence of children witnessed violence in a pediatric emergency department

Abstract

Witnessed violence is a form of child abuse with detrimental effects on child wellbeing and development, whose recognition relies on the assessment of their mother exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of witnessed violence in a population of children attending a pediatric emergency department (ED) in Italy, by searching for IPV in their mother, and to define the characteristics of the mother-child dyads. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2020 to January 2021. Participating mothers were provided a questionnaire, which included the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and additional questions about their baseline data and health. Descriptive analysis was reported as frequency and percentage for the categorical variables and median and interquartile range (IQR) for quantitative variables. Mothers and children screened positive and negative for IPV and witnessed violence, respectively, were compared by the chi-square test or the exact Fisher test for categorical variables, and by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables. Out of 212 participating mothers, ninety-three (43.9%) displayed a positive WAST. Mothers tested positive were mainly Italian (71%, p 0.003), had a lower level of education (median age at school dropout 19, p 0.0002), and a higher frequency of unemployment (p 0.001) and poor personal health status (8.6%, p 0.001). The children of mothers tested positive showed a higher occurrence of abnormal psychological-emotional state (38.7%, p 0.002) and sleep disturbances (26.9%, p 0.04).

Conclusion: IPV was common in a population of mothers seeking care for their children in a pediatric ED.

What is known: • Witnessed violence is a form of child abuse, usually inferred by their mothers' exposure to IPV. The latter is suffered by one in three women worldwide.

What is new: • This study shows a 43.9% prevalence of IPV among mothers attending an Italian pediatric ED. • Positive mother-child dyads displayed a higher frequency of poor mothers' health status and children's abnormal emotional state and sleep disturbances.

Keywords: Intimate partner violence; Pediatric emergency department; Witnessed violence; Woman Abusive Screening Tool.