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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Pediatric Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1471723

The moderating role of parent-child interaction in the relationship between maltreatment and psychological well-being among preschool children

Provisionally accepted
Cheng Zhang Cheng Zhang 1Chuican Huang Chuican Huang 2Chunhui Zhang Chunhui Zhang 3Weijia Wu Weijia Wu 1,3Huang Zhenning Huang Zhenning 3Xue Xia Xue Xia 4Sijia Liu Sijia Liu 2Chen Wang Chen Wang 4Qing Luo Qing Luo 1Lichun Fan Lichun Fan 2,3*
  • 1 Department of Scientific Research, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
  • 2 Department of Child Health Care, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
  • 3 School of Pediatrics, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
  • 4 School of Public Health, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between maltreatment and psychological well-being among preschool children and explore parent-child interaction's moderating role on this association.This study employed a cross-sectional design and multistage stratified cluster random sampling method. Between December 2022 and January 2023, 180 kindergartens in the Hainan province-encompassing 4,886 newly enrolled children as participants-were selected. All data were collected using an online platform, on which parents or caregivers reported their children's history of abuse and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Chinese Parent-Child Interaction Scale.Result: The reporting rate of child abuse in Hainan Province was 61.81%. Specifically, frequent physical abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval[CI] = 1.15-1.80), occasional physical neglect (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.37-2.11), frequent physical neglect (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.31-1.87), and frequent emotional abuse (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.31-1.87) were associated with a higher overall rate of difficulties. Frequent physical abuse (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.08-1.64) and frequent emotional abuse (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.16-1.61) were correlated with a higher rate of prosocial problems. A significant interaction was observed between parent-child interaction and occasional physical neglect on psychological well-being (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.54-0.98, P = 0.035).Conclusions: Preschool children who experience maltreatment exhibit an increased risk of developing psychological health issues, indicating a cumulative effect. Our study indicates that positive parent-child interaction mitigates occasional physical neglect's negative impact on preschool children's psychological well-being but does not exhibit a moderating effect on frequent physical neglect or other forms of maltreatment.

    Keywords: child maltreatment, Moderating analysis, Preschool children, parent-child interaction, psychological well-being

    Received: 28 Jul 2024; Accepted: 12 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Huang, Zhang, Wu, Zhenning, Xia, Liu, Wang, Luo and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lichun Fan, Department of Child Health Care, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, Hainan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.