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The Effect of Child Abuse on Children’s Psychological Health

Received: 1 June 2014     Accepted: 3 July 2014     Published: 20 July 2014
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Abstract

The study examines the impact of child abuse on children’s psychological health. Child abuse was defined as physical and psychological abuses against children whilst psychological health was defined in relation to children’s self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. 109 children were purposively sampled to partake in the study. The sample consisted of both males (n = 68) and females (n = 41) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, whose ages were from 9 to 18 years. The research design used was a survey, and the independent samples t-test was used to analyze the data. Some of the participants have histories of abusive treatment (n=57) whilst others were without any such history (n=68). Among those who had suffered abusive treatment, 36 suffered physical abuse and 21 suffered psychological abuse. Standardized measures were used to rate each participant’s level of depression and anxiety. The analyses of the data show that both physical and psychological abuses lead to a significant increase in children’s depression and anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to existing psychological literature and theories.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11
Page(s) 105-112
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Psychological Abuse, Psychological Health, Self-Esteem, Depression, Anxiety

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kingsley Nyarko, Christopher M. Amissah, Prince Addai, Believe Quaqoo Dedzo. (2014). The Effect of Child Abuse on Children’s Psychological Health. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3(4), 105-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11

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    ACS Style

    Kingsley Nyarko; Christopher M. Amissah; Prince Addai; Believe Quaqoo Dedzo. The Effect of Child Abuse on Children’s Psychological Health. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2014, 3(4), 105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11

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    AMA Style

    Kingsley Nyarko, Christopher M. Amissah, Prince Addai, Believe Quaqoo Dedzo. The Effect of Child Abuse on Children’s Psychological Health. Psychol Behav Sci. 2014;3(4):105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11,
      author = {Kingsley Nyarko and Christopher M. Amissah and Prince Addai and Believe Quaqoo Dedzo},
      title = {The Effect of Child Abuse on Children’s Psychological Health},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {105-112},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140304.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20140304.11},
      abstract = {The study examines the impact of child abuse on children’s psychological health. Child abuse was defined as physical and psychological abuses against children whilst psychological health was defined in relation to children’s self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. 109 children were purposively sampled to partake in the study. The sample consisted of both males (n = 68) and females (n = 41) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, whose ages were from 9 to 18 years. The research design used was a survey, and the independent samples t-test was used to analyze the data. Some of the participants have histories of abusive treatment (n=57) whilst others were without any such history (n=68). Among those who had suffered abusive treatment, 36 suffered physical abuse and 21 suffered psychological abuse. Standardized measures were used to rate each participant’s level of depression and anxiety. The analyses of the data show that both physical and psychological abuses lead to a significant increase in children’s depression and anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to existing psychological literature and theories.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AU  - Kingsley Nyarko
    AU  - Christopher M. Amissah
    AU  - Prince Addai
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    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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    AB  - The study examines the impact of child abuse on children’s psychological health. Child abuse was defined as physical and psychological abuses against children whilst psychological health was defined in relation to children’s self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. 109 children were purposively sampled to partake in the study. The sample consisted of both males (n = 68) and females (n = 41) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, whose ages were from 9 to 18 years. The research design used was a survey, and the independent samples t-test was used to analyze the data. Some of the participants have histories of abusive treatment (n=57) whilst others were without any such history (n=68). Among those who had suffered abusive treatment, 36 suffered physical abuse and 21 suffered psychological abuse. Standardized measures were used to rate each participant’s level of depression and anxiety. The analyses of the data show that both physical and psychological abuses lead to a significant increase in children’s depression and anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to existing psychological literature and theories.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • University of Ghana, Psychology Department, P. O. Box LG 84, Legon

  • University of Ghana, Psychology Department, P. O. Box LG 84, Legon

  • University of Ghana, Distance Education, Kumasi Center, P. O. Box 838, Adum, Kumasi

  • University of Ghana, Department of Organizational and Human Resource Management, P. O. Box LG 78, Legon

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