{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T22:32:20Z","timestamp":1784241140112,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,28]],"date-time":"2021-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627430400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006661","name":"United Nations Population Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006661","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Aim:<\/jats:bold>Our aim was to assess the prevalence and correlates of lifetime physical abuse among schoolchildren in Albania, a post-communist country in South Eastern Europe which is currently undergoing a rapid socioeconomic transition.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold>The third wave of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) in Albania was conducted in 2017\u201318 including a nationwide representative sample of 1,708 schoolchildren aged 15 years (54% girls; response rate: 95%). Children were asked to report on lifetime physical abuse and a wide range of socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors and health status characteristics. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the independent association of lifetime physical abuse with covariates.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold>Overall, the prevalence of lifetime physical abuse was about 32% (30% in boys vs. 32% in girls). In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models, independent positive correlates of lifetime physical abuse among Albanian schoolchildren included lifetime smoking (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1\u20132.2), lifetime alcohol consumption (OR = 1.6, 95%CI = 1.2\u20132.1), irritability (OR<jats:sub>[dailyvs.rarely\/never]<\/jats:sub>= 2.0, 95%CI = 1.3\u20133.0), and especially lifetime witnessed domestic violence (OR = 4.2, 95%CI = 2.2\u20137.9). Conversely, a higher score on life satisfaction was inversely related to lifetime physical abuse (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt; 0.01).<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold>Our study provides novel evidence about the magnitude and selected independent correlates of lifetime physical abuse among schoolchildren in Albania, a country still embedded in an everlasting transition which is associated with tremendous changes in family structure, community links and societal norms and values. Irrespective of a wide range of sociodemographic factors and health characteristics, lifetime smoking, alcohol consumption, irritability, a lower score on life satisfaction and, particularly, witnessed domestic violence were strong and significant correlates of lifetime physical abuse among Albanian schoolchildren aged 15 years.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.607493","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,28]],"date-time":"2021-07-28T06:34:02Z","timestamp":1627454042000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Correlates of Lifetime Physical Abuse Among Schoolchildren Aged 15 Years in Post-communist Albania"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Gentiana","family":"Qirjako","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qamil","family":"Dika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iris","family":"Mone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xheladin","family":"Dra\u00e7ini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Loreta","family":"Kuneshka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Enver","family":"Roshi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Genc","family":"Burazeri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"Copenhagen: DenmarkWorld Health Organization Regional Office for Europe;Measuring and Monitoring National Prevalence of Child Maltreatment: A Practical Handbook2016"},{"key":"B2","unstructured":"Report of the Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention, 29\u201331 March 1999GenevaWorld Health Organization1999"},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"World Report on Violence and Health KrugEG DahlbergLL MercyJA ZwiAB LozanoR GenevaWorld Health Organization2002"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1003","DOI":"10.26719\/2003.9.5-6.1003","article-title":"Adolescent abuse in a community sample in Beni Suef, Egypt: prevalence and risk factors","volume":"9","author":"Afifi","year":"2003","journal-title":"East Mediter Health J."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1080\/00207594.2012.697165","article-title":"Cultural\u2013geographical differences in the occurrence of child physical abuse? 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