AbstractsOther

Little is known about perception of child maltreatment in Greece. Although maltreatment in European countries is well documented, knowledge concerning this phenomenon remains sparse in Greece. This study examined mothers’ and teacher’s evaluation of severity of four types of maltreatment: physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and emotional neglect. It was also examined whether mothers and teachers differ in their evaluation of maltreatment and if their perceptions are influenced by demographics and previous maltreatment experience. 41 Greek mothers of children 2 to 6 years old, 20 Greek teachers and 2 professionals working in Youth Care centers in Greece distributed Maltreatment Q-sort (MQS) and filled in Children Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Background information Questionnaire. Within subjects contrast showed that mothers evaluated significantly more harmful physical abuse than the other types of maltreatment and physical neglect than emotional neglect and emotional abuse. Teachers also showed significant differences on subscales of MQS apart from physical neglect and emotional abuse. Mothers and teachers did not strongly differ in how they evaluated maltreatment and mothers showed higher convergence with the professionals’ view of maltreatment. Identity, number of children and maltreatment experiences are related to participants’ perception of maltreatment. Understanding perception of maltreatment is vital, as its perception has implications for reporting maltreatment and identifying intervention needs of vulnerable children. Furthermore, understanding maltreatment’s perception may help social service agencies to practice successful intervention programs. The current study is the first that directly studies the perception of four types of maltreatment and can be the basis for further research. Keywords: perception, maltreatment, Greece, mothers, teachers, MQS