Latent Classes of Perceived Academic Stress and Parent–Adolescent Conflict: Implications for Child Abuse Incidence in South Korea

Abstract

Although child abuse is a universal social problem, each society has a unique social and cultural context where it occurs. This study examined the effects of South Korean adolescents' perceived academic stress and parent–child conflict on the incidence of child abuse. Utilizing latent class analysis (LCA), the study identified distinct subgroups of adolescents (n = 1, 743) based on their levels of stress and conflict. Recognizing that the influence of the subgroups on child abuse might differ by family income, LCA and logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for low-income and middle- or high-income families. The results indicated that in middle- or high-income families, adolescents who experienced academic stress without parent–child conflict were less likely to face emotional abuse (OR = 0.40, 95% CI [0.20, 0.78]) compared to those experiencing both high stress and conflict. Furthermore, lower academic grades were identified as a significant risk factor for physical abuse within this income group. More effective child abuse prevention strategies are discussed for South Korean adolescents across different income groups.