This study investigates the co-occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) against mothers and their risk of perpetrating child maltreatment (CM) in North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania. Risk factors for IPV, CM, and their co-occurrence were identified. Two samples ( N 1 = 112, N 2 = 701) of mothers with children with behavioral problems were assessed. IPV was reported by 64% of mothers, CM by 96%, and their co-occurrence by 63%. Mothers exposed to emotional IPV reported more physical and emotional CM. Mothers exposed to physical IPV reported more physical CM. Motheŕs own history of CM and offspring's behavior problems were associated with IPV and CM co-occurrence.
Antonia Brühl, Catherine L. Ward, Jamie M. Lachman et al.
This study explored the association between parental discipline and mental health in a sample of 21,366 Chinese preschool children (mean age = 4.82 ± 0.89 years; 51.77% boys, 48.23% girls). Parenting practices were measured as overall parenting scores, laxness, overreactivity, and verbosity, and children’s mental health was assessed by the official simplified Chinese version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Both outcomes were dichotomized using validated cut-offs for Chinese preschoolers, and odds ratios are reported as the odds of meeting these cut-off definitions (Total Difficulties Score > 14; adequate Prosocial Behavior Score ≥ 6). The results indicated that higher parenting scores (for total difficulties: AOR = 4.03; 95% CI: 3.64–4.46; for prosocial behavior: AOR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.45–0.51), particularly in laxness (for total difficulties: AOR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.23–1.34; for prosocial behavior: AOR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.85–0.91) and overreactivity (for total difficulties: AOR = 1.83; 95% CI: 1.76–1.90; for prosocial behavior: AOR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.64–0.68), were associated with higher odds of a Total Difficulties Score > 14 (i.e., risk of mental health difficulties) and lower odds of an adequate Prosocial Behavior Score (≥ 6), while verbosity (for total difficulties: AOR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.77–0.84; for prosocial behavior: AOR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.19–1.27) was associated with lower odds of a Total Difficulties Score > 14 and higher odds of an adequate Prosocial Behavior Score (≥ 6). Subgroup analyses suggested potential effect modification by education level and child age, but most interaction effects were not significant after multiple comparison correction. The findings emphasize the need for balanced parenting and interventions targeting both discipline and parental well-being to enhance children’s mental health.
Knowledge is constructed through questioning. In line with this, Nigerian feminist author Buchi Emechet a questions the traditional methods of stereotyping the role of motherhood, which overtly demonstrates how deliberately political it is to confine a woman merely within her role as a mother, even if she possesses every possible potential to construct her own multifaceted ‘self’ as an independent entity in the mainstream of society. Nnu Ego, the female protagonist of The Joys of Motherhood, is deserted by her first husband for her inability to produce a child and her second husband, too, though she produces several children by him, objectifies her by disregarding her individual human 'self.' She exhausts herself for educating her children and ultimately dies unheard and unattended. But the traditional patriarchal paradigm defines her success and failure in terms of her children’s success and failure, and thus in general, it hinders women in general from developing their agency and transforms them into 'Other.' This qualitative research will address the research question—how does patriarchal politics work behind the process of transforming a mother into an ‘Other’? This paper will borrow the theoretical framework from the Marxist feminist theorists, such as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and the Afro-American feminist bell hooks.
Abstract Violence against children (VAC) is a complex social problem, and this edited volume offers important insights for how researchers, practitioners, and policymakers can continue to advance work on the prevention and response to VAC in all of its forms. Specifically, researchers should employ a diverse conceptualization of violence, considering the co-occurring and compounding effects of violence on the lives of children. Researchers should also continue to forward longitudinal and process-oriented work, as well as mixed-methods work focusing on trajectories of both risk and resilience. This will further advance well-contextualized and holistic understandings of children’s flourishing. Practitioners should regularly engage in multisystemic and multisectoral partnerships to support comprehensive models of care, with the prevention of violence as a critical goal of these efforts. Similarly, policymakers should consider how to support integrated networks that address children’s holistic needs.
Laura E. Miller-Graff, Scott L. Moeschberger, Catherine A. Maloney
Background Anthropometric assessment remains the cornerstone of the identification and classification of pediatric undernutrition, whereas the role of laboratory biomarkers is less well established. Objective To evaluate serum copeptin in children with undernutrition and to compare its discriminatory performance with that of serum albumin. Methods This single-center cross-sectional case-control study included children aged 1 month to 18 years with undernutrition and healthy controls recruited from the same clinical setting. Serum copeptin concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed. Age-stratified and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. Results A total of 98 children were included: 44 with undernutrition and 54 healthy controls. Serum copeptin concentrations were significantly higher and serum albumin concentrations were significantly lower in children with undernutrition than in healthy controls (both p < 0.001). In ROC analysis, copeptin yielded an area under the curve of 0.729 (95% CI 0.622–0.835), whereas albumin yielded an area under the curve of 0.726 (95% CI 0.618–0.833), with no significant difference between the two ROC curves (DeLong p = 0.977). In multivariable analysis adjusted for age and sex, both copeptin and albumin remained independently associated with undernutrition. A combined copeptin–albumin model showed higher discrimination within the study sample. Conclusion Serum copeptin is elevated in children with undernutrition. Although it does not outperform albumin as a standalone biomarker, it may provide complementary information when interpreted alongside albumin.
Youth mental health problems are a major and growing global challenge. Although effective interventions exist for many common mental health problems, population-level improvements have been limited. This paradox highlights that intervention effectiveness alone is likely insufficient to generate meaningful public health impact. Interventions must also reach young people, be adopted by services and practitioners, be delivered with quality, and be sustained over time. Drawing on implementation science, we argue that youth mental health research should ask not only “Does this intervention work?” but also “Can this intervention generate population-level impact?”. We illustrate how impact considerations can be embedded throughout the intervention lifecycle. First, we discuss designing for reach and adoption, using single-session interventions as an example of scalable approaches aligned with real-world patterns of service use. Second, we highlight the importance of evaluating effectiveness under routine conditions, drawing on a trial of a modular treatment in outpatient child and adolescent clinics as an example of generating externally valid evidence. Third, we emphasise the need to study implementation and sustainment, using examples from national mental health programmes and implementation research initiatives. To reduce the burden of youth mental health problems, implementation, reach, and sustainment must be treated as core objectives if our work is to have population-level impact.
The main goal of our research is to examine the rising incidence of rape and indecent assault against minors despite strengthened legal measures and prevention efforts. It aims to identify and analyze the key contributing factors—such as family instability, inappropriate relationships, household alcoholism, unsupervised internet use, and inadequate child supervision—that place children, particularly those aged 8–17, at heightened risk. The research seeks to assess the effectiveness of current prevention and protection strategies and highlight the need for improved implementation, professional capacity, and societal commitment to safeguarding children's rights. Ultimately, it strives to inform more effective, evidence-based interventions to reduce and prevent sexual violence against minors. The number of rapes and indecent assaults on minors has increased annually, with an average of 320 cases registered per year, although a slight decrease is projected for 2024. Despite strengthened legal measures and the efforts of NGOs, the incidence of child rape has continued to rise by 14.2–22.8 percent each year, and many cases remain hidden behind statistics on births and abortions. Key contributing factors include family instability, inappropriate relationships, household alcoholism, unsupervised internet use, and inadequate child supervision, with most victims aged 8–17 and the majority of perpetrators being adults with lower educational attainment. Effective prevention and response require not only robust laws but also coordinated implementation, professional capacity, and a societal commitment to upholding children's rights and protection.
Introduction Physical education (PE) offers opportunities for psychological learning, but evidence of benefit depends on the outcome, design, and instructional context. Methods This systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis included 74 reports from 70 trial families of primary-school PE interventions. Four databases covered English-language reports published from January 2000 through 31 May 2026. Randomized and nonrandomized controlled studies were distinguished from uncontrolled pre -post and short-term within-child designs. Multilevel models addressed dependent effects, with trial-family CR2 inference. Results Source-informed controlled analyses contained five core social-emotional effects from three families (g = 0.947, 95% CI [−0.774, 2.667]; Holm-adjusted p = 0.424) and 13 adjacent psychological effects from five families (g = 0.215, 95% CI [−0.386, 0.817]; Holm-adjusted p = 0.424). Model-based prediction intervals were [−2.387, 4.280] and [−1.368, 1.799], respectively. The broader controlled analysis, requiring additional variance or clustering assumptions, included 126 effects from 28 families and yielded g = 0.381, 95% CI [0.135, 0.627]. Discussion The broader and combined source-informed estimates were similar (g = 0.381 and 0.421, respectively), although the latter was less precise; because the analyses overlap, they do not provide independent confirmation of benefit. The primary estimates remain too uncertain to define a dependable average benefit, rather than demonstrating that benefits are absent. Positive broader evidence warrants attention alongside substantial heterogeneity, source-reporting limitations, and an inconclusive exploratory small-study diagnostic. Future trials should align psychological targets, instructional content, implementation measures, and validated outcomes, and report allocation-aware uncertainty.
Abstract Both research and child protection practice are still far away from having uniform definitions of violence against children. The different disciplines involved in the sectors of national child protection systems rely on separate discourses and terms; definitions are sometimes rather general or implicit, and operationalizations of important elements are rare. The various terms in use – child maltreatment, child abuse and neglect, child endangerment, children at risk, children in need, etc. – speak of the variety, not only of concepts, but also of practices. With respect to the latter, definitional issues are also issues of the scope and thresholds of intervention. This chapter provides an overview of major terms and definitional approaches to violence against children and identifies eminent differences between them. Findings from several studies on the Swiss child protection system, including the first multi-sectorial national survey on agency responses to child maltreatment, illustrate how professionals use definitions and the consequences of having multiple definitional concepts for documenting reported cases. We conclude by advocating for a consensus-based interdisciplinary process of developing shared definitions of violence against children.
This study reports on 82 unduplicated cases of violence against women and children after the Great East Japan Disaster of March 2011. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from informants who worked with the disaster-affected populations. In addition to domestic violence, reported cases involved sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, including quid pro quo assault perpetrated by nonintimates. Perpetrators often exploited a sense of fear, helplessness, and powerlessness and used threats to force compliance with sexual demands in exchange for life-sustaining resources. Findings point to the urgent need to develop measures to prevent and respond to postdisaster gender-based violence.
Mieko Yoshihama, Tomoko Yunomae, Azumi Tsuge et al.
