Peer-reviewed article
The relationship between violence against children and psychological distress, Southern Ethiopia
Berhanu Dendena Sona ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined the relationship between violence against children and psychological distress among 380 primary school students in southern Ethiopia. Over half the students (58.4%) had experienced some form of violence including physical, psychological, sexual abuse, or neglect. The research found a strong positive correlation between exposure to violence and psychological distress, with violence accounting for 89% of the variation in distress levels. The findings highlight the need for intervention strategies to protect children from violence.
Key points
- 58.4% of the 380 students surveyed had experienced violence in at least one form
- 54.7% of participants showed signs of psychological distress
- Strong positive correlation found between violence and psychological distress (r = 0.943, p < 0.001)
- Violence accounted for 89% of the variation in psychological distress levels
- Study included physical, psychological, sexual violence, and neglect as forms of violence
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study, so it cannot establish causal direction or rule out reverse causation. The study does not identify which types of violence are most strongly associated with distress, or describe the specific interventions that would be effective.
Abstract
The study examined the association between violence against children and psychological distress. It used an explanatory cross-sectional survey research design. It involved 380 samples selected from grade 5 up to 8 students who attended primary schools found in Yirgachefe, Wonago, and Dilla towns of Gedeo zone, south region of Ethiopia. It employed systematic random sampling technique for sample selection. It used three tools to collect quantitative data. The first instrument was a child version for age 11–18 (ICAST-C) 53 items to study the magnitude of violence committed against children. The second tool was Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), which is a 10 items self-report measure of psychological distress as a quick tool to assess risk for serious psychological distress. The third tool was a self-designed Likert scale questionnaire adapted from United Nations Children’s Fund, International Classification of Violence against Children (UNICEF) (2023) to identify perpetrators. The study analyzed data through descriptive statistics including Mean, Standard Deviation and Percentage. Besides, it used inferential statistics with t-test, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis. Findings indicate that 197 (51.8%) males and 183 (48.2%) female students participated in the study. The findings also shows that the overall prevalence of violence including (physical, psychological, sexual & neglect) was 222 (58.4%) children with M = 3.24 SD = 0.92. As the result 208 (54.7%) participants with M = 36.59 SD = 3.68 were exposed to psychological distress. Besides, there was a significant positive correlational association between violence against children and psychological distress with Pearson correlation coefficient 0.943 and with a corresponding r = ([378]) = [0.943], P = (0.000) at P < .0.05. Moreover, (R 2 = 0.89) of the regression analysis shows that an increase in violence against children has an associated impact with an increase in psychological distress by 89% magnitude. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis (H 1 ) was accepted. Based on the findings, it is advisable to design appropriate intervention strategies to keep children from violence.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- None evaluated; this is an observational study documenting the relationship between violence and psychological distress
- Population
- 380 primary school students in grades 5-8 from three towns in Gedeo zone, southern Ethiopia
Key finding
58.4% of children experienced violence (physical, psychological, sexual, or neglect)
Sona · OpenAlex · 13 Mar 2026