PREVALENCE OF CHILD PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE COMMUNITY - RESULTS FROM THE ONTARIO HEALTH SUPPLEMENT

Context.-Although child maltreatment is considered common, few communi ty surveys have examined the prevalence of more than 1 type of maltrea tment among both males and females. Objective.-To determine the preval ence of a history oi physical and sexual abuse during childhood among the general population. Design.-General population survey. Setting.-Ho usehold dwellings in the province of Ontario, Canada. Participants.-A random sample (N=9953) of residents aged 15 years and older participat ed in the Ontario Health Supplement. Main Outcome Measure.-Self-admini stered questionnaire about a history of physical and sexual abuse in c hildhood. Results.-A history of child physical abuse was reported more often by males (31.2%) than females (21.1%), while sexual abuse durin g childhood was more commonly reported by females (12.8%) than males ( 4.3%). Severe physical abuse was reported by similar proportions of ma les (10.7%) and females (9.2%), A greater percentage of females report ed a history of severe sexual abuse (11.1%) compared with males (3.9%) . Age of the respondent was not significantly associated with childhoo d abuse within any category for males. However, for females, the repor ted prevalence in childhood of sexual abuse, co-occurrence of physical and sexual abuse, and both categories of severe abuse decreased with increasing age of the respondent. Conclusions.-A history of childhood maltreatment among Ontario residents is common. Child abuse may be mor e prevalent in younger women compared with older women, or there may b e a greater willingness among younger women to report abuse.