Peer-reviewed article
Factors associated with the recurrence of violence against children and adolescents. Mato Grosso-Brazil, 2013 to 2019.
Silvana Maria da Silva, Amanda Cristina de Souza Andrade, Francine Nesello Melanda, Lígia Regina de Oliveira ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analyzed factors linked to repeated violence against children and adolescents in Mato Grosso state, Brazil, using health system records from 2013 to 2019. Nearly half of violence cases against children (49%) and 43% against adolescents involved repeat incidents. Violence that happened at home, involved psychological abuse, multiple attackers who were family members, and included threats was more likely to recur in both age groups. The study identified different risk factors for younger children versus adolescents, such as neglect for children and sexual violence for adolescents.
Key points
- Recurrent violence frequency was 49.0% for children and 42.9% for adolescents
- Violence at home was positively associated with recurrence in both age groups
- Psychological or emotional violence and multiple relatives as aggressors increased recurrence risk
- For children, neglect or abandonment and male aggressors were additional risk factors
- For adolescents, sexual violence and intimate-partner aggressors were associated with recurrence
Limitations
This study is observational and based on notified cases, so it cannot determine causation and may not capture unreported violence. The findings are specific to one Brazilian state and may not generalize to other regions or countries.
Abstract
This study examined factors associated with the recurrence of interpersonal violence against children and adolescents in Mato Grosso state, considering cases recorded in the Notifiable Diseases Information System, from 2013 to 2019. Associations between variables were estimated by logistic regression and stratified by age group (children and adolescents). The frequency of recurrent violence against children was 49.0% and, against adolescents, 42.9%. For both, recurrent violence was positively associated with occurrence at home, psychological or emotional violence, aggressors' being more than two, their being relatives and threats being the means of aggression. Neglect or abandonment and male or both-sex aggressors were positively associated with recurrent violence against children. Against adolescents, poor education, sexual violence and intimate-partner aggressors were positively associated with recurrent violence, while other aggressors and firearms or physical force were negatively associated. The findings offer significant contributions to knowledge of factors associated with recurrent violence, which is still little studied in the national and international literature. This is essential in order to inform strategies to reduce the recurrence of violence and protect children and adolescents.