Incidence and influencing factors of child sexual abuse among middle school students in a county of Hubei province

  Objective  To analyze the incidence and influencing factors of child sexual abuse among middle school students in a county of Hubei province and to provide evidences for the prevention of child sexual abuse.

  Methods  Information about cognition and incidence of child sexual abuse were collected from 1 476 middle school students selected with stratified cluster sampling via a questionnaire survey during March 2016. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were adopted in data analyses.

  Results  Six forms of sexual abuse were reported in the study. Of all the respondents, 20.7% had encountered one or multiple forms of sexual abuse and the proportion was significantly higher among male respondents than among female respondents (27.4% vs. 13.7% ) (χ² = 42.008, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that female gender (odds ratio OR = 0.421) was a protective factor against child sexual abuse; with a father having migrated more than 6 months (OR = 1.510), being a senior high school student (OR = 1.961), and having adequate awareness about child sexual abuse (OR = 1.332) were risk factors of child sexual abuse victimization.

  Conclusion  The incidence of child sexual abuse is relatively high among middle school students in a county of Hubei province, especially among the boy students; with a father having migrated more than 6 months, being a senior high school student, and having adequate awareness about child sexual abuse are risk factors of child sexual abuse victimization among the students.