ArticleThe Medical journal of Australia2023
The prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia: findings from a national survey.
Article in The Medical journal of Australia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Public Knowledge and Attitudes About the Nature and Impact of Child Emotional Abuse: A Systematic Review.Child maltreatment · 2026Pooled it
- Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration to Promote Trauma-Informed Practices in Early Childhood and Primary Education.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Pooled it
- Global Prevalence of Sexual Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Engaging Parents in Child-Focused Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education Strategies: A Systematic Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2024Pooled it
- Prevalence and associated factors of interpersonal violence in organized sport in a population-based sample of Quebec (Canada) adolescents: a cross-sectional study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Shame as a mediator of the association of childhood emotional abuse with aversive cognitive perseveration in adults.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2026Article
- Early life trauma and endometriosis: A case-control study on type and timing of adverse experiences.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Perpetrator types, severity, and cumulative trauma: a population-based study of childhood sexual abuse characteristics and lifelong health.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Mental Health Symptoms: The Role of Peer Interactions.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Prevalence, Patterns, Severity, and Sociodemographic Correlates of Childhood Sexual Abuse Among Adults with Hypertension.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Estimating burden of disease attributable to child maltreatment using findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Introduction to the Special Issue: Prevalence and Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse Perpetration in Australia, the United States, and United Kingdom.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2026Article
- Beyond mental disorders: The role of child maltreatment in childhood suicidal behaviour.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Impact of adverse childhood experiences on health-related quality of life in Australian women with endometriosis: a population-based cohort study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Return on investment from interventions to prevent common mental disorders among adolescents in Australia: A modelling study.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- The prevalence of potentially traumatic events in childhood and associations with mental disorders, suicide and physical health in adulthood: An Australian nationally representative cross-sectional study.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mental health and substance use conditions among emerging adults in Australia 2020-2022: Prevalence, severity and psychosocial correlates within geographic regions.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Exploring the genetic causality of childhood maltreatment on multiple risk-related outcomes using Mendelian randomization: evidence from European-Ancestry GWAS.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- The effects of parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood threat and deprivation on adolescent depression and anxiety: an analysis of the longitudinal study of Australian children.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- Associations between childhood adversity and adult oral health-related quality of life, the HUNT4 Survey.BMC public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo estimate the prevalence in Australia of each type of child maltreatment; to identify gender- and age group-related differences in prevalence. DESIGN,
settingCross-sectional national survey; mobile telephone interviews using random digit dialling (computer-generated), Australia, 9 April - 11 October 2021. Retrospective self-report data using validated questionnaire (Juvenile Victimisation Questionnaire-R2 Adapted Version (Australian Child Maltreatment Study).
participantsPeople aged 16 years or more. The target sample size was 8500 respondents: 3500 people aged 16-24 years and 1000 respondents each from five further age groups (25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 years or more).
main outcome measuresProportions of respondents reporting physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence to age 18 years, assessed with the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire-R2 Adapted Version (Australian Child Maltreatment Study), overall and by gender and age group, and weighted to reflect characteristics of the Australian population aged 16 years or more in 2016.
resultsComplete survey data were available for 8503 eligible participants (14% response rate). Physical abuse was reported by 32.0% of respondents (95% confidence interval [CI], 30.7-33.3%), sexual abuse by 28.5% (95% CI, 27.3-29.8%), emotional abuse by 30.9% (95% CI, 29.7-32.2%), neglect by 8.9% (95% CI, 8.1-9.7%), and exposure to domestic violence by 39.6% (95% CI, 38.3-40.9%). The proportions of respondents who reported sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect were each statistically significantly larger for women than men. The reported prevalence of physical abuse by respondents aged 16-24 years was lower than for those aged 25-34 years, and that of sexual abuse was lower than for those aged 35-44 years, suggesting recent declines in the prevalence of these maltreatment types.
conclusionsChild maltreatment is common in Australia, and larger proportions of women than men report having experienced sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect during childhood. As physical and sexual abuse may have declined recently, public health policy and practice may have positive effects, justifying continued monitoring and prevention activities.
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