Some would say the study requires a bit of an asterisk, given that most of the assaults were perpetrated by siblings. As anyone who grew up with a brother or sister knows, physical fights can be common.
However, the study’s authors say that such squabbles still can impact the mental, emotional and social health of a child in the future. Several studies have linked drug abuse, suicide and criminal behavior with childhood violence.
The study also found that 5 percent of these kids were physically assaulted by their parents or another caregiver, while 15 percent were mistreated somehow—a broader blanket term that includes emotional abuse, neglect or squabbles with another parent (e.g., a divorced parent) that inevitably spill into the child’s life.
“Children are the most victimized segment of the population,” said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center and lead author of the study. “The full burden of this tends to be missed because many national crime indicators either do not include the experience of all children or don’t look at the big picture and include all the kinds of violence to which children are exposed.” (HealthDay News)