Smith J A, Adler R G
Department of General Pediatrics, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Child Abuse Negl. 1991;15(4):437-45. doi: 10.1016/0145-2134(91)90027-b.
A case-control study of 45 hospitalized abused children was conducted to reassess the risk factors for child abuse when confounding by social class was minimized. Cases were matched for age, sex, family structure, and social class with children admitted to hospital for an acute illness. Abused children were more likely to have younger parents, fewer siblings, and to have been separated from their mothers during the first year of life. Their parents were more likely to have been abused as children and to have a poor relationship with the child's other parent. The families of abused children had encountered more stressful life events in the preceding 12 months. Other previously recognized "risk factors" were not shown to have a statistically significant association with child abuse. Because child abuse is more prevalent in lower socioeconomic families, the association with many of these factors has been accepted as implying a causal relationship. Matching procedures which attempted to eliminate confounding by social class and family structure cast doubts on some previously held beliefs about the risk factors for child abuse.
一项针对45名住院受虐儿童的病例对照研究展开，旨在将社会阶层混杂因素降至最低时，重新评估虐待儿童的风险因素。病例在年龄、性别、家庭结构和社会阶层方面与因急性病入院的儿童进行匹配。受虐儿童更有可能父母年龄较小、兄弟姐妹较少，且在一岁前与母亲分离。他们的父母更有可能在儿时受过虐待，且与孩子的另一方父母关系不佳。在过去12个月里，受虐儿童的家庭遭遇了更多压力性生活事件。其他先前公认的“风险因素”并未显示出与虐待儿童有统计学上的显著关联。由于虐待儿童在社会经济地位较低的家庭中更为普遍，这些因素中的许多与虐待儿童的关联被认为意味着因果关系。试图消除社会阶层和家庭结构混杂因素的匹配程序，对一些先前关于虐待儿童风险因素的观点提出了质疑。
