Assefa, Abebe (PhD)Walelign, Medhanit2018-06-202023-11-042018-06-202023-11-042014-05http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/2051Understanding the relationship between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment is crucial in providing better assessments of families at risk and creating better intervention and prevention strategies. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment in three selected preparatory and secondary schools of Addis Ababa. In addition, this study also sought to examine the relationship that child maltreatment has with family characteristics and some demographic factors (age, gender, year of schooling and type of the school).A total of 382 (Male =160, Female =222) students from the three secondary and preparatory schools (one private and two government), in Addis Ababa were selected conveniently. Parental substance abuse instrument and international child abuse screening tool (ICAST) were used to measure parental substance abuse and child maltreatment, respectively. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the collected data. Findings showed that parental substance abuse is significant predictor of child maltreatment. More specifically child maltreatment differs by the type of the substance, pattern of the substance abuse, affiliation with the abuser, and length of the starting time. It was also found that there is a statistically significant relationship between all the demographic factors except gender (age, class level, and year of schooling) and child maltreatment. In contrary, the study revealed a significant gender difference in emotional and sexual abuse. Family characteristics were also found to be significant mediator of the relationship of child maltreatment with demographic factors and parental substance abuse. Conclusion was made and the major findings were discussed in relation to other research findings. Finally the implication for social work education, research, practice and policy was discussedenChild maltreatment; family characteristics; substance abuse; parental substance abuseThesis