Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36088357›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2022

Locked up at home: a cross-sectional study into the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on domestic violence in households with children in Belgium.

Elizaveta Fomenko, Lotte De Schrijver, Christophe Vandeviver, Ines Keygnaert

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Elizaveta FomenkoICRH - Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1089-8710
Lotte De SchrijverICRH - Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3295-8427
Christophe VandeviverIRCP - Faculty of Law & Criminology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9714-7006
Ines KeygnaertICRH - Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Ines.Keygnaert@UGent.be.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1707-0254
Ghent University Hospital · BEGhent University · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPolicymakers worldwide took measures to limit the spread of the COVID-19-virus. While these sanitary measures were necessary to fight the spread of the virus, several experts warned for a significant impact on mental health and a potential increase in domestic violence. To study the impact of the COVID-19 measures in Belgium, and the factors influencing the occurrence of domestic violence, we set up the study on relationships, stress, and aggression. In this study, we evaluate the prevalence of domestic violence victimization during the COVID-19 lockdown in Belgian children aged zero to seventeen years and the associations of the parents' financial status, relationships, mental health, and previous victimization to the child's victimization.

methodsA stepwise forward binary logistic regression was used to analyse the association between multiple risk factors of domestic violence and victimization of the respondent's child. The respondent being an assailant, the respondent's age, and the age of the children in the household were added as moderators.

resultsIn this model an association with domestic child abuse was found for the age of the respondent, the household's size, the presence of children between zero and five years in the household, the perceived stress level of the respondent, and victimization of the respondent during the first wave of the sanitary measures, as well as victimization before the COVID-19 pandemic. None of the interacting effects were found to be significant.

conclusionIt is advisable to make extra efforts to improve well-being when maintaining sanitary measures by providing appropriate assistance and helping households struggling with increased or acute stress to install positive coping strategies - especially in larger households with children between six and 17 years. Besides, our findings draw attention to the clustering of risk of child and adult violence exposure in lockdown situations as well as to the potential cumulative impact of exposure to violence across the lifespan and across generations. It is key to invest in training healthcare workers and staff at schools to screen for and assess risks of domestic violence development and ongoing or past occurrence in order to detect, refer and follow-up on families at risk.

Indexed as

COVID-19Domestic ViolenceAdultBelgiumChildCommunicable Disease ControlCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPandemicsChildrenCOVID-19 pandemicDomestic violencePublic healthSexual and gender based violence

Identifiers

PMID36088357
PMCPMC9463669
OpenAlexW4295422606

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.