Violence exposure among adolescent psychiatric patients in Nepal: Socio-demographic and familial risk factors

Background: Violence exposure is a major public health concern among adolescents. Yet, evidence on socio-demographic and familial risk factors in adolescent psychiatric populations in Nepal and other low- and middle-income countries is limited. Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with different forms of violence exposure among adolescents attending a child and adolescent psychiatric unit in Nepal. Methods: A total of 810 adolescents aged 11–15 years (392 boys, 418 girls) at Kanti Children’s Hospital in Kathmandu, were included. Adolescents reported past-year exposure to violence using adapted PedHITSS and ICAST-C items, while parents provided socio-demographic and family data. Associations were examined using ordinal and logistic regression analyses in SPSS 29. Results: Physical abuse was more frequent among adolescents from the Dalit caste (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.03–3.34, p = 0.04), whereas neglect and domestic violence were more frequent among Indigenous/minority groups compared with Brahmin/Chhetri castes (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.17–2.52, p = 0.006; OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.17–2.27, p = 0.004). Compared with urban areas, emotional abuse was less frequent in rural (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.34–0.80, p = 0.003) and semi-urban areas (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.41–0.85, p = 0.005), while sexual abuse and neglect were less frequent in semi-urban areas (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.21–0.77, p = 0.01; OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.20–0.60, p