Child maltreatment and neglect in the United Arab Emirates and relationship with low self-esteem and symptoms of depression.

OBJECTIVES

To our knowledge, this study is the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to investigate the prevalence of child maltreatment in relation to depressive symptoms and self-esteem.

STUDY

DESIGN

Exposure to physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect was evaluated in 518 adolescents (86% response rate) randomly selected from schools in Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure self-esteem and depressive symptoms by using multivariate logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

The mean age of study participants was 14.3 years. Emotional abuse was the most frequent form of maltreatment (33.9%), physical abuse (12.6%) and neglect (12.1%) followed. Male sex was a positive predictor of physical abuse (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.18-3.77), whilst higher maternal level of education was protective (OR = 0.40; 95% CI 0.19-0.86). Daily screen time (OR = 2.77; 95% CI 1.17-6.56) and tobacco smoking (OR = 1.86; 95% CI 1.09-3.18) positively predicted emotional abuse. Emotionally maltreated and neglected participants were less likely to report high level of self-esteem and more likely to report symptoms of depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Child maltreatment in the UAE is of a similar magnitude to what reported in other countries around the world and significantly associated with low self-esteem and depressive symptoms.