Ethnic/racial differences in the prevalence of injurious spanking and other child physical abuse in a National Survey of Adolescents

Child Maltreat. 2010 Aug;15(3):242-9. doi: 10.1177/1077559510367938. Epub 2010 May 24.

Abstract

Limited research has examined whether similar patterns in injurious spanking and other forms of child physical abuse (CPA) exist across specific ethnic/racial groups. The authors examined and compared differences in the lifetime prevalence of injurious spanking and CPA in two national samples of adolescents across ethnic/racial groups and over time. Participants were 4,023 youth (12-17 years) and 3,614 youth (12-17 years) who participated in the 1995 National Survey of Adolescents (NSA) and 2005 National Survey of Adolescents-Replication (NSA-R), respectively. Adolescents, who were identified through random digit dial procedures, completed a telephone interview assessment. Results indicated significant ethnic/racial variation across groups in reports of injurious spanking in the NSA and the NSA-R samples; however, significant differences were not observed within groups between the two samples over time. Ethnic/racial differences also were found between groups in reports of CPA in the NSA-R sample. Limitations and future directions of this research are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Asian / statistics & numerical data
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Child Abuse / ethnology*
  • Child Abuse / statistics & numerical data
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Surveys
  • Hispanic or Latino / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Indians, North American / statistics & numerical data
  • Logistic Models
  • Odds Ratio
  • Prevalence
  • Punishment
  • Racial Groups / statistics & numerical data*
  • United States / epidemiology
  • White People / statistics & numerical data