Impact of childhood abuse experience on mental health of middle school students

Objective To understand the mental health status and possible abuse experience during childhood in middle school students and provide evidence for the improvement of students mental health and research on child abuse. Methods A retrospective study was conducted among 301 students of grade 1 and 2 selected by cluster sampling in a middle school in Taiyuan. Results Among 301 students surveyed, those whose body had been shaking fiercely by others accounted for 55.5%; those who had been hit by others hands and hard object accounted for 62.1% and those whose ears and arms had been pinched by others accounted for 61.4%. The students who had been insulted or got scolded by others accounted for 71.4%. The students with social contact anxiety accounted for 23.9%, those with lonely tend accounted for 9%; those with self-reproach tend accounted for 69.4% and those with hypersensitive tend accounted for 57.8%. The body abuse rate was higher in boys than in girls, but the sex abuse rate was higher in girls than in boys, the difference was statistical significant (P0.05). The difference on mental health status between boys and girls was with statistical difference. Conclusion The childhood abuse rate was high in the middle school students, which had negative impact on their mental health. It is necessary to establish the evaluation system, method and indicators of child abuse and conduct multi sectoral and multi-disciplinary cooperation to develop the prevention and intervention measures in China.