Ecological study of violence against children in provinces of Iran: a cluster analysis

Background and purpose: Violence against children is one of the most important social and public health problems that affect people in different age, racial, cultural and religious groups. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of violence against children in provinces of Iran. Materials and methods: This ecological study used the cluster analysis of data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2010 among 31 provinces of Iran. Results: After integration of indicators of violence against children, the highest and lowest mean values of indices in all provinces were verbal punishment (76.99) and corporal punishment (13.12), respectively. In cluster analysis five clusters were formed in which the worst was seen in Golestan province (cluster 2) and the best were observed in Guilan, South Khorasan, Yazd, Ilam, Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Semnan, Hormozgan, Khoozestan, Alborz, and North Khorasan (cluster 1). According to the results of ANOVA, four indicators of violence against children including inadequate care, exposure to smoking, child labor and believe in disciplinary action against children showed significant differences, but no significant difference was found between corporal punishment and verbal punishment. Conclusion: This study showed that the overall rate of violence against children was high and a wide variety of violence is seen against Iranian children