A cross-national exploration of societal-level factors associated with child physical abuse and neglect

Children around the world experience violence from their caregivers at alarming rates, with severe physical violence estimated to affect at least half of children in several regions and large differences between countries. Identifying societal-level factors that can be changed could help reduce maltreatment across entire populations rather than one family at a time. This study examined a wide range of societal factors across many countries on several continents, at different stages of development, in relation to caregiver-reported physical abuse and neglect. Gender inequity stood out as potentially important for both physical abuse and neglect, while literacy and development indicators also appeared to matter for neglect. The authors caution that the findings are correlational and limited by measurement issues, and call for more research on societal drivers of maltreatment so that prevention efforts can focus on strategies with the greatest potential for population-wide impact.