Prevalence of child abuse and common mental comorbidity among university of Khartoum medical students, Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

Introduction: Child abuse and neglect are significant public health issues worldwide, with severe and lasting effects on children's mental and physical well-being. Despite being prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Sudan, limited research has been conducted on this topic. This study investigates the prevalence of childhood abuse and neglect among Sudanese medical students and explores its impact on their mental health.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 313 medical students from the University of Khartoum. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Statistical analyses were conducted using non-parametric tests and multiple linear regression to identify correlations and predictors of psychological distress. Propensity score matching was also performed to check the effect of gender matching on the results.

Results: Approximately 40% of students reported experiencing childhood trauma, with sexual abuse (23.3%) and emotional neglect (19.2%) being the most common types. Female students reported higher levels of psychological distress (p = 0.049). Students who experienced abuse or sexual assault had significantly higher distress levels (p = 0.001 and p = 0.014, respectively). Still, this significance disappeared after matching Emotional abuse showed the strongest correlation with psychological distress (r = 0.405), followed by emotional neglect (r = 0.232). Regression analysis revealed that past abuse, sexual assault, and emotional abuse were significant predictors of distress, with emotional abuse having the most substantial impact both before (p < 0.001) and after matching (p-value = 0.005).

Conclusion: Childhood maltreatment is common among Sudanese medical students and significantly affects mental health, particularly emotional abuse and neglect. The only type of abuse which significantly contributed to psychological distress was emotional abuse. More focus is needed towards emotional abuse as it is still hidden, unlike physical and sexual abuse, which show visible marks. More researches need to be done toward addressing the domains of emotional abuse and how to prevent it.

Keywords: Child abuse; Medical students; Mental health; Sudan.