OBJECTIVEEmotional abuse and neglect is an under-recognized, but is a common form of child abuse. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for emotional abuse in adolescents.

METHODSA cross-sectional survey on emotional abuse was conducted by anonymous self-administered questionnaire in 865 adolescents randomly sampled from three junior schools in Harbin City. A total of 844 valid questionnaires were received. Risk factors were studied by multivariate non-conditional regression analysis.

RESULTSOver the past year, 47.3% of the 844 respondents suffered from emotional abuse. Monovariate regression analysis indicated that emotional abuse was related to 19 factors, including children's health status, parental marital status, parental educational levels, family rearing patterns, family atmosphere and so on. Multivariate regression analysis showed poor children's health status (OR=1.877, P=0.001), bad parental marital status (OR=1.768, P=0.004), and unjustifiable family rearing patterns [over-interference (OR=3.004, P=0.006) and assentation (OR=5.430, P=0.032)] were risk factors for the occurrence of emotional abuse. The harmonious family atmosphere and the harmonious relations between children and their parents were protective factors for emotional abuse.

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of emotional abuse is high in adolescents. Poor children's health status, bad parental marital status and unjustifiable family rearing patterns are risk factors for the occurrence of emotional abuse.