Child maltreatment and protection in the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries: A scoping review

Nurses' knowledge and attitudes about children maltreatment in Jordan: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To examine nurses' knowledge and attitudes, and the factors influencing them regarding managing child maltreatment in Jordan's acute and primary care settings.

METHODS

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Nurses (n = 523, 84 % female) caring for children in Jordan's acute and primary healthcare settings completed the Child Abuse Report Intention Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The mean total score of knowledge items was 4.9 (SD =2.6) out of 13. The mean total attitudes score towards protecting children from suspected maltreatment was 78.6 (SD = 12.27) out of 108. Only 42 % of the nurses intended to screen for child maltreatment in their practice, and 15 % did not consider children's physical punishment a form of maltreatment. Additionally, 66 % of nurses reported that each case of child maltreatment should be reported to the authorities, and 68 % indicated that they should advocate for abused children.

CONCLUSION

The significantly insufficient knowledge and fair attitude of nurses towards child maltreatment revealed by this study raises concerns regarding their preparedness for child protection in clinical practice.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The findings underscore the critical need for interventions to strengthen nurses' capacities to practice protective and advocacy roles in cases of child maltreatment in clinical settings. Such interventions have the potential to enhance child protection significantly. Stakeholders, such as healthcare administrators, play a key role in shaping the policies and practices. They can better address the limited nurses' knowledge and attitude issues and work towards fostering a safer environment for screening for and reporting child maltreatment.

Self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction as serial mediators of links between childhood psychological maltreatment and loneliness

BACKGROUND

Psychological maltreatment may be one of the causes of adults' loneliness despite having a partner. There are some links between psychological maltreatment, self-criticism, relationship satisfaction, and loneliness in the literature. But the nature of these links requires further explanation.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined the serial mediation role of self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction on the pathway from childhood psychological maltreatment to loneliness, in a Turkish sample.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS

In total 403 individuals (Female = 294, Male = 109) participated from 53 different cities in Türkiye. Participants were either dating (65.8 %), had a fiancée (4 %), or were married (30.3 %).

METHOD

The data was collected using Psychological Maltreatment Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Self-criticism Rumination Scale, and the Relationship Assessment Scale.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling results indicated that self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction fully mediated the impact of psychological maltreatment on loneliness. The model was a good fit [χ² (29, N = 403) = 63.846, p < .001; χ²/df = 2.20; SRMR = 0.061; RMSEA = 0.055; GFI = 0.969; CFI = 0.979; NFI = 0.963; IFI = 0.979].

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood experiences of psychological maltreatment can continue to haunt individuals, even as adults. Although being in a relationship can help individuals with their loneliness, psychologically maltreated adults may feel lonely in their relationships due to self-criticism and dissatisfaction. Interventions focused on childhood psychological maltreatment and self-criticism may help lonely adults. Along with this focus, relationship satisfaction can be addressed in family/couple counseling.

Non-Accidental Injuries in Pediatric Primary Care: A Systematic Literature Review of Objective Assessment Tools and Trends in Gulf Cooperation Council Region

Nonaccidental injuries (NAI) in pediatric primary care in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region refer to intentional injuries inflicted on children, usually by a caregiver or a family member. The region has seen an increase in nonaccidental injuries in recent years, and healthcare providers have a crucial role in identifying and managing the cases. The aim of research on nonaccidental injuries in pediatric primary care in the GCC region is to identify objective assessment tools and evaluate trends in the region. PubMed, Google Scholar, and EMBASE databases were searched using search string keywords. The search was conducted on 7^th February 2023. The keywords included in the search included the search terms: nonaccidental injuries, pediatric, and GCC. All the studies were published between 1990 and 2023. The articles that passed the eligibility criteria were read fully to examine whether they would be relevant to the current systematic literature review. An initial search identified 3059 studies (Google Scholar = 6, EMBASE =12, PubMed = 4732). After the deletion of similar articles, only 3613 articles were left for further screening. The abstracts and titles of the left articles were scanned and screened to decide whether they were included in this systematic review. After deletion, 16 papers were inspected and read fully based on predefined eligibility criteria. Eventually, 11 papers were recognized and identified that passed the eligibility criteria of this systematic review. The studies reviewed in this analysis highlight the significant problem of child abuse in the GCC region, particularly neglect as the most common form of abuse. The studies also suggest that parents are the most frequent perpetrators of abuse. The need for policies and interventions to prevent child abuse and support victims is paramount.