Parental Socio-Cultural Background as Predictors of Child Abuse in Delta State, Nigeria

The study examined the connection between parental socio-cultural belief and child abuse. Using a correlational research design, a total of 500 participants were enlisted from Delta State, Nigeria for the study. The participants were asked to answer a self-constructed questionnaire. The data were analysed with independent samples t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (PPMCC). The result showed that male and female parents did not differ in the abuse of their children (p>0.05 level of significance; d = .002, for physical abuse; .003 for sexual abuse; and .001 for child neglect). Also, there was no statistically significant difference in child abuse based on parents’ marital status (p>0.05 level of significance; d = .01, for physical abuse; .01 for sexual abuse; and .01 for child neglect). Although a relationship existed between the cultural belief, religious belief and child abuse, the relationship was not moderated by gender and parents’ marital status.