Nagassar R P, Rawlins J M, Sampson N R, Zackerali J, Chankadyal K, Ramasir C, Boodram R
Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
West Indian Med J. 2010 Jan;59(1):20-5.
Domestic violence is a medical and social issue that often leads to negative consequences for society. This paper examines the association between the prevalence of domestic violence in relation to the different socio-economic classes in Central Trinidad. The paper also explores the major perceived causes of physical abuse in Central Trinidad.
Participants were selected using a two-stage stratified sampling method within the Couva district. Households, each contributing one participant, were stratified into different socioeconomic classes (SES Class) and each stratum size (or its share in the sample) was determined by the portion of its size in the sampling frame to the total sample; then its members were randomly selected. The sampling method attempted to balance and then minimize racial, age, cultural biases and confounding factors. The participant chosen had to be older than 16-years of age, female and a resident of the household. If more than one female was at home, the most senior was interviewed.
The study found a statistically significant relationship between verbal abuse (p = 0.0017), physical abuse (p = 0.0012) and financial abuse (p = 0.001) and socio-economic class. For all the socio-economic classes considered, the highest prevalence of domestic violence occurred amongst the working class and lower middle socio-economic classes. The most prominent reasons cited for the physical violence was drug and alcohol abuse (37%) and communication differences (16.3%). These were the other two main perceived causes of the violence. The power of the study was 0.78 and the all strata prevalence of domestic violence was 41%.
Domestic violence was reported within all socio-economic class groupings but it was most prevalent within the working class and lower middle socio-economic classes. The major perceived cause of domestic violence was alcohol/drug abuse.
家庭暴力是一个医学和社会问题，常常给社会带来负面后果。本文研究了特立尼达中部不同社会经济阶层中家庭暴力患病率之间的关联。本文还探讨了特立尼达中部身体虐待的主要公认原因。
在库瓦区采用两阶段分层抽样方法选取参与者。每户推选一名参与者，按不同社会经济阶层（社会经济阶层类别）进行分层，各层规模（或其在样本中的占比）由其在抽样框中的规模占总样本的比例确定；然后从各层中随机选取成员。抽样方法试图平衡并尽量减少种族、年龄、文化偏见和混杂因素。所选参与者必须年满16岁、为女性且是该家庭的住户。如果家中有多名女性，则采访最年长者。
研究发现言语虐待（p = 0.0017）、身体虐待（p = 0.0012）和经济虐待（p = 0.001）与社会经济阶层之间存在统计学上的显著关系。在所有考虑的社会经济阶层中，家庭暴力患病率最高的是工人阶级和社会经济中下层。被提及的身体暴力最突出的原因是药物和酒精滥用（37%）以及沟通差异（16.3%）。这是另外两个主要的公认暴力原因。该研究的检验效能为0.78，家庭暴力在所有阶层中的患病率为41%。
所有社会经济阶层群体中均有家庭暴力报告，但在工人阶级和社会经济中下层最为普遍。家庭暴力的主要公认原因是酒精/药物滥用。
