Violence Experience and Abuse of Young Adults in Home

Introduction: Violence is a global serious risk factor for children’s health and occurs in all socioeconomic levels. Aim: Investigate the existence and extent of domestic violence in young adults as they have experienced it in childhood and adolescence. Material and Methods: The sample comprised 365 nursing students. Data were collected by the completion of ICAST-CH scale with Cronbach’s α=0,78. Statistical analysis was performed by the use of statistical package SPSS 17 and included anova and t-test. All reported p values were compared to a significance level of 5%. Results: Eighty seven percent were girls and 13% boys. Seven percent reported that in his family there are individuals who use alcohol and drugs and that their behavior causes fear. 37.6% has seen individuals in family to shout in a way that frightened them, 12% reported physical violence in the family and 7% experienced situations where individuals in the family used sharp objects to injure and frighten while 7.7% experienced situations of war and revolt. The statistical analysis showed that boys are more often physically abused whereas girls reported sexual harassment or abuse (p=0,021) and (p=0,030) respectively. Regarding marital status, it was found that single-parent family frequently use alcohol and drugs (p=0,027) frequently quarrel (p=0,043) as well as used of force and injure (p=0,029). Regarding the number of children it was found that the larger the number of children in the family the less cases of physical violence (p=0,013). Low educational level of parents was related to drug and alcohol use (p=0,001) as well as to physical violence (p=0,050). Individuals whose mother was a factory worker, often reported that someone from family use drugs and alcohol (p=0,021) as well as that individuals in the family shout and cause fear (p=0,013). Participants coming from single-parent family reported having experiences in the family of shouts and quarrels (p=0,004) as well as those who were raised by others rather than their parents experienced situations that cause them shame or feel bad (p<0,001). Participants that they had a family member with physical or mental disability, experienced frequent situations that cause fear (p=0,009) moreover they did not received the necessary for their upbringing (p=0,007). Same results were found when one of their parents use alcohol or drugs (p=0,013), (p<0,001) respectively, while they reported more frequent physical violence (p=0,045). Conclusion: Socioeconomic factors such as low educational level, alcohol and drug use, mental illness and family structure are risk factors for domestic violence.