The Prevalence of Child Abuse in Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Child abuse constitutes a significant public health issue that adversely affects individuals' physical and mental health, with consequences that can persist throughout the lifespan. Accordingly, child abuse has received considerable scholarly attention and has been extensively studied. However, existing studies have reported substantial variations in prevalence rates among Chinese children and adolescents, thereby hindering a comprehensive understanding of its prevalence in this population. To address this issue, the present study systematically analyzed 117 studies, comprising 373 effect sizes and 681,699 Chinese children and adolescents. Results indicated that the pooled prevalence rates were, in descending order: neglect (33.3%), psychological abuse (21.9%), physical abuse (15.9%), and sexual abuse (8.6%). Significant moderating effects were found for publication-related factors (i.e., publication status and year), sample characteristics (i.e., age and geographic region), and study design characteristics (i.e., measurement and time frame). These findings suggest that child abuse remains a pressing issue among Chinese children and adolescents, highlighting the need for continued efforts to improve the child protection system in China. Concurrently, greater emphasis should be placed on standardizing research designs and promoting the adoption of more standardized and validated measures.