Child Maltreatment and Self-rated Health: Mediating Effect of Parent–child Conversation and Moderating Effect of Gender

Child maltreatment seriously affects children's psychological and social well-being, as well as their physical health. The study aimed to explore the impact of violence experienced by children on their self-rated health. It also examined whether this effect is mediated by parent-child conversations and whether it varies based on the child's gender. The study was based on the Child Victim Survey of 2013 (FSD2943) in Finland. Mediation and moderation models were tested. According to the analyses, violence experienced by a child at the hands of their parents weakened the parent-child relationship, which, in turn, negatively impacted the child's self-rated health. Further, the higher the frequency of experienced violence, the more negative are the health consequences. However, girls had stronger negative health consequences as a result of low frequency of violence than boys. Social workers should pay particular attention to the dynamics within the family when assessing the possibility of child maltreatment.