Child abuse and AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior among adolescents in Zambia☆
Section snippets
Child abuse and AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and behavior
Studies in the West suggest the existence of a strong connection between having had an experience of child abuse and the tendency to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors. Such studies, to the best of out knowledge, have not been conducted among African adolescents. However, more than 70% of the world's HIV-infected people live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where Zambia is geographically located. This statistic is particularly alarming considering that only 10% of the world's population resides in
Sample
The sample comprised 3,360 adolescents aged 10–19. Adolescence is usually defined as 15–19 years of age. We included in this study younger participants because previous studies suggested that in Zambia youths tend to initiate sexual activities at a much younger age (Slonim-Nevo et al., 2001). In order to obtain a representative sample of adolescents, the following eight groups were created: females, urban in school—females, urban out-of-school; females, rural in school—females, rural
Sexual and physical abuse by a family member
Table 2 presents the frequency of each of the 9 offenses of sexual and physical abuse that form the scale “family abuse.” Physical abuse was more common than sexual abuse: less than 10% of the adolescents reported that they had been sexually abused, but 23% reported that a family member had physically abused them.
Out-of-school participants were at a higher risk of sexual and physical child abuse, including reporting that a family member had touched their breasts or genitals or had intercourse
Discussion
This paper examined the impact of sexual and physical abuse by a family member on the AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and behavior of urban and rural adolescents in Zambia. The results indicate that as the level of abuse experienced by the adolescents increased—their level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, tendency to hold positive attitudes toward prevention, and level of self-efficacy regarding HIV/AIDS prevention decreased. Additionally, when controlling for socio-demographic
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2017, Cognitive and Behavioral PracticeCitation Excerpt :In a handful of studies, CSA was negatively associated with HIV-related knowledge, safer sex attitudes, and safer sex self-efficacy and skills (Brown, Lourie, Zlotnick, & Cohn, 2000; Brown, Reynolds, & Lourie, 1997; Hall, Hogben, Carlton, Liddon, & Koumans, 2008; Johnsen & Harlow, 1996; Noll, Horowitz, Bonanno, Trickett, & Putnam, 2003; Slonim-Nevo & Mukuka, 2007). While speculative, a number of possible reasons for these associations were suggested, including lowered impulse control (Brown et al., 2000; Brown et al., 1997), lower prevention self-efficacy (Brown et al., 1997; Slonim-Nevo & Mukuka, 2007), and negative attitudes of abusive partners towards condoms (Hall et al., 2008). Individuals with a history of CSA are less responsive than nonabused individuals to typical sexual risk reduction interventions (Beadnell et al., 2006; Brown et al., 1997; Mimiaga et al., 2009), suggesting that individuals who have been sexually abused have unique needs that are not addressed in typical risk reduction interventions.
Associations between adolescent experiences of violence in Malawi and gender-based attitudes, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors
2017, Child Abuse and NeglectCitation Excerpt :Other studies have reported that children in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from predominantly high rates of exposure to violence (Akmatov, 2011; Stoltenborgh, van IJzendoorn, Euser, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011). This is partially due to the fact that physical punishment as a form of discipline in the homes is ubiquitous (Naker, 2005; Slonim-Nevo & Mukuka, 2007), and schools are another predominant setting for physical and sexual abuse (Jewekes, Levin, Mbananga, & Bradshaw, 2002; Meinck, Cluver, Boyes, & Loening-voysey, 2016). In Swaziland, nearly 1 in 5 females has experienced childhood physical violence in her lifespan − 1 in 20 requiring medical attention due to the severity of the experience (Breiding, Mercy, Gulaid, Reza, & Hleta-Nkambule, 2013).
Children's experiences of corporal punishment: A qualitative study in an urban township of South Africa
2015, Child Abuse and NeglectCitation Excerpt :The ubiquity of corporal punishment by parents in these children's lives is in line with global findings (UNICEF, 2003). The prevalence of our participants’ experience of corporal punishment at school is also in line with findings from rural and poor schools in South Africa (Kipperberg, 2007; Ward, 2007), as well as other countries in Africa (Hecker et al., 2013; Slonim-Nevo & Mukuka, 2007). Many of the children in this study report commonly being hit with objects like belts, whips and planks, both at home and at school for minor transgressions, similar to reports in other studies (Hecker et al., 2013; Sanapo & Nakamura, 2011).
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2010, Child Abuse and NeglectCitation Excerpt :To date child protection needs are discussed in the context of HIV responses, chiefly in relation to orphans, this research strongly suggests that they should to be addressed as part of HIV prevention. Physical punishment was particularly common, a finding which echoes research from Uganda and Zambia, and also frequently caused visible injury (Naker, 2005; Slonim-Nevo & Mukuka, 2007). Sexual abuse was reported by 39% of women, which is a little higher than the 33% who reported it in a randomly selected sample of women in Swaziland (Reza et al., 2009).
Children's innocence at stake-An alarming report from Varanasi, India
2009, Child Abuse and Neglect
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The study reported in this paper was supported by a grant from The Netherlands-Israel Development Research Program (NIRP) No: 95-8.