Abstract

ARROM SUHURT, Cristina Haydée et al. Characterization of pediatric patient, witnesses of domestic violence. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2015, vol.13, n.3, pp.45-50. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/Mem.iics/1812-9528/2015.013(03)45-050.

The impact on the health of the pediatric population of the fact of being witness of domestic violence (DV) presupposes a risk with possible consequences for their mental health. The objective was to characterize the family context of pediatric patients who were witnesses of domestic violence and were receiving treatment in the Outpatient Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Paraguay. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study that analyzed 145 medical recordsof patients that consulted at the service between 2010 and 2013. Out of them, 101 hadthe information requested.. The 53.5% (54)reported witnessing violence between parents;35.6% (36)suffered other traumatic situation. Association(p <0.00156) was found between living in a nuclear family and reduced presence of DV;between living in a single parent family and witness DV p=0.016);between being DV witness and being victim of physical violence (p=0.002); andbetween being witness and being victim of psychological violence (p=0,003). The percentage of witness population is consistent with the prevalence in Latin America. The results show lower presence of child population being witness of DV in nuclear families and higher in single-parent families. It is noted that the study population is not only witness but also suffer physical and psychological violence. The researchers considered insufficient categories to determine families as protective or risk factors, therefore other indicators that refer to the dynamics should be included.

Keywords : domestic violence; childhood and adolescence; witness of domestic violence.

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