The incidence of adolescent maltreatment in Arab society and some of its psychological effects

The article deals with the incidence of adolescent maltreatment by parents and siblings and some of its psychological effects, as revealed by a cross-sectional survey conducted among a sample of 1,640 Arab adolescents in Israel. The results revealed that a high percentage of adolescents are psychologically and physically maltreated annually. Furthermore, regression and multiple regression analyses reveal that significant amounts of the variance in adolescents' feelings of hopelessness, psychological adjustment problems, and low self-esteem can be attributed to their maltreatment by parents and siblings. These levels of variance go beyond the amounts of variance in these psychological states that can be explained by the sociodemographic characteristics of the adolescents, their parents, and their families. The implications of these results for future research are discussed. The relevance of sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts of Arab society to child and adolescent maltreatment is also illuminated.