Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of sampled children in National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), India (2019–21 and 2015–16), stratified by estimated area level violence exposure in different child developmental periods
(A) NFHS-5 (2019–21) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Children exposed to violence in-utero or within 0–3 years | |||
N | Y | % of children exposed to violence (%) | p value | |
N | 25,876 | 56,906 | 69 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Higher | 3211 (12.4) | 5786 (10.2) | 64 |  |
 No education | 6078 (23.5) | 14,066 (24.7) | 70 |  |
 Primary | 3544 (13.7) | 7559 (13.3) | 68 |  |
 Secondary | 13,043 (50.4) | 29,495 (51.8) | 69 |  |
Mother's height in cm [mean (SD)] | 150.94 (6.16) | 151.35 (6.34) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 715 | 1054 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 3435 (13.3) | 8163 (14.3) | 70 |  |
 Hindu | 18,002 (69.6) | 35,489 (62.4) | 66 |  |
 Muslim | 3615 (14.0) | 11,035 (19.4) | 75 |  |
 Other | 824 (3.2) | 2219 (3.9) | 96 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Forward caste | 3795 (14.7) | 8598 (15.1) | 69 |  |
 Other backward caste | 9246 (35.7) | 17,408 (30.6) | 65 |  |
 Schedule caste | 5337 (20.6) | 9220 (16.2) | 63 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 5943 (23.0) | 16,848 (29.6) | 74 |  |
 Other | 250 (1.0) | 302 (0.6) | 55 |  |
 Missing | 1305 (5.0) | 4530 (7.9) |  |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Middle | 4525 (17.5) | 9278 (16.3) | 67 |  |
 Poorer | 6292 (24.3) | 14,460 (25.4) | 70 |  |
 Poorest | 8188 (31.6) | 20,834 (36.6) | 72 |  |
 Richer | 3591 (13.9) | 7077 (12.4) | 66 |  |
 Richest | 3280 (12.7) | 5257 (9.2) | 62 |  |
Type of residence = urban (%) | 5569 (21.5) | 9525 (16.7) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of years in current residence [mean (SD)] | 16.47 (27.51) | 15.73 (25.82) |  |  < 0.001 |
Child's gender = Male (%) | 13,522 (52.3) | 29,121 (51.2) |  | 0.004 |
Age of Child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 4957 (19.2) | 3991 (7.0) | 45 |  |
 1 | 6147 (23.8) | 8520 (15.0) | 58 |  |
 2 | 4983 (19.3) | 12,396 (21.8) | 71 |  |
 3 | 2979 (11.5) | 11,829 (20.8) | 80 |  |
 4 | 3888 (15.0) | 14,541 (25.6) | 79 |  |
 5 | 2922 (11.3) | 5629 (9.9) | 66 |  |
Variables | Children exposed to violence in-utero | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Y | % of children exposed to violence (%) | p | |
N | 46,741 | 36,041 | 44 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Higher | 5562 (11.9) | 3435 (9.5) | 38 |  |
 No education | 11,105 (23.8) | 9039 (25.1) | 45 |  |
 Primary | 6384 (13.7) | 4719 (13.1) | 43 |  |
 Secondary | 23,690 (50.7) | 18,848 (52.3) | 44 |  |
Mother's height in cm [mean (SD)] | 151.07 (6.15) | 151.43 (6.45) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 1185 | 584 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 5688 (12.2) | 5910 (16.4) | 51 |  |
 Hindu | 32,253 (69.0) | 21,238 (58.9) | 40 |  |
 Muslim | 7111 (15.2) | 7539 (20.9) | 51 |  |
 Other | 1689 (3.6) | 1354 (3.8) | 44 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Forward caste | 6897 (14.8) | 5496 (15.2) | 44 |  |
 Other backward caste | 16,693 (35.7) | 9961 (27.6) | 37 |  |
 Schedule caste | 9333 (20.0) | 5224 (14.5) | 36 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 10,694 (22.9) | 12,097 (33.6) | 53 |  |
 Other | 418 (0.9) | 134 (0.4) | 24 |  |
 Missing | 2706 (5.8) | 3129 (8.7) |  |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Middle | 8011 (17.1) | 5792 (16.1) | 42 |  |
 Poorer | 11,592 (24.8) | 9160 (25.4) | 44 |  |
 Poorest | 15,063 (32.2) | 13,959 (38.7) | 48 |  |
 Richer | 6323 (13.5) | 4345 (12.1) | 41 |  |
 Richest | 5752 (12.3) | 2785 (7.7) | 33 |  |
Type of residence = urban (%) | 9581 (20.5) | 5513 (15.3) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of years in current residence [mean (SD)] | 15.87 (26.13) | 16.09 (26.66) | Â | 0.238 |
Child's gender = male (%) | 24,310 (52.0) | 18,333 (50.9) |  | 0.001 |
Age of child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 5106 (10.9) | 3842 (10.7) | 43 |  |
 1 | 8391 (18.0) | 6276 (17.4) | 43 |  |
 2 | 9022 (19.3) | 8357 (23.2) | 48 |  |
 3 | 7510 (16.1) | 7298 (20.2) | 49 |  |
 4 | 9840 (21.1) | 8589 (23.8) | 47 |  |
 5 | 6872 (14.7) | 1679 (4.7) | 20 |  |
Variables | Children exposed to violence between 0 and 3Â years | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Y | % of children exposed to violence (%) | p | |
N | 34,833 | 47,949 | 58 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Higher | 4237 (12.2) | 4760 (9.9) | 53 |  |
 No education | 8010 (23.0) | 12,134 (25.3) | 60 |  |
 Primary | 4729 (13.6) | 6374 (13.3) | 57 |  |
 Secondary | 17,857 (51.3) | 24,681 (51.5) | 58 |  |
Mother's height in cm [mean (SD)] | 150.95 (6.19) | 151.43 (6.35) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 929 | 840 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 4812 (13.8) | 6786 (14.2) | 59 |  |
 Hindu | 23,718 (68.1) | 29,773 (62.1) | 56 |  |
 Muslim | 5166 (14.8) | 9484 (19.8) | 65 |  |
 Other | 1137 (3.3) | 1906 (4.0) | 63 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Forward caste | 4994 (14.3) | 7399 (15.4) | 60 |  |
 Other backward caste | 12,175 (35.0) | 14,479 (30.2) | 54 |  |
 Schedule caste | 6878 (19.7) | 7679 (16.0) | 53 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 8516 (24.4) | 14,275 (29.8) | 63 |  |
 Other | 304 (0.9%) | 248 (0.6) | 45 |  |
 Missing | 1966 (5.6) | 3869 (8.0) | 51 |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Middle | 6038 (17.3) | 7765 (16.2) | 56 |  |
 Poorer | 8608 (24.7) | 12,144 (25.3) | 59 |  |
 Poorest | 11,288 (32.4) | 17,734 (37.0) | 61 |  |
 Richer | 4738 (13.6) | 5930 (12.4) | 56 |  |
 Richest | 4161 (11.9) | 4376 (9.1) | 51 |  |
Type of residence = urban (%) | 7127 (20.5) | 7967 (16.6) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of years in current residence [mean (SD)] | 16.44 (27.72) | 15.61 (25.33) |  |  < 0.001 |
Child's gender = male (%) | 18,014 (51.7) | 24,629 (51.4) |  | 0.323 |
Age of child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 8057 (23.1) | 891 (1.9) | 1 |  |
 1 | 8480 (24.3) | 6187 (12.9) | 42 |  |
 2 | 6742 (19.4) | 10,637 (22.2) | 61 |  |
 3 | 3913 (11.2) | 10,895 (22.7) | 74 |  |
 4 | 4664 (13.4) | 13,765 (28.7) | 75 |  |
 5 | 2977 (8.5) | 5574 (11.6) | 65 |  |
(B) NFHS-4 (2015–16) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Children exposed to violence in-utero or within 0–3 years | |||
N | Y | % children exposed to violence (%) | p | |
N | 46,510 | 78,668 | 63 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No education | 14,538 (31.3) | 26,205 (33.3) | 64 |  |
 Primary | 6686 (14.4) | 11,786 (15.0) | 64 |  |
 Secondary | 20,975 (45.1) | 35,171 (44.7) | 63 |  |
 Higher | 4311 (9.3) | 5506 (7.0) | 56 |  |
Mother's height [mean (SD)] | 1608.05 (904.90) | 1561.10 (658.29) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 333 | 388 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 2577 (5.5) | 11,719 (14.9) | 82 |  |
 Hindu | 33,095 (71.2) | 48,280 (61.4) | 59 |  |
 Muslim | 8161 (17.5) | 15,470 (19.7) | 65 |  |
 Other | 2677 (5.8) | 3199 (4.1) | 54 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Schedule caste | 9514 (21.2) | 11,693 (16.1) | 55 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 7274 (16.2) | 22,204 (30.6) | 75 |  |
 Other backward caste | 18,576 (41.3) | 25,943 (35.8) | 58 |  |
 Forward caste | 9161 (20.4) | 12,324 (17.0) | 57 |  |
 Don't know | 419 (0.9) | 369 (0.5) | 47 |  |
 Missing | 1606 | 6095 |  |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Poorest | 12,376 (26.6) | 25,526 (32.4) | 67 |  |
 Poorer | 10,522 (22.6) | 21,555 (27.4) | 67 |  |
 Middle | 9194 (19.8) | 14,998 (19.1) | 62 |  |
 Richer | 7645 (16.4) | 9970 (12.7) | 57 |  |
 Richest | 6773 (14.6) | 6619 (8.4) | 49 |  |
Type of residence = rural (%) | 34,045 (73.2) | 63,921 (81.3) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of Years in Current residence P[mean (SD)] | 16.24 (27.46) | 16.41 (26.52) | Â | 0.284 |
Child's sex = female (%) | 21,969 (47.2) | 38,159 (48.5) |  |  < 0.001 |
Age of child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 8456 (18.2) | 5039 (6.4) | 37 |  |
 1 | 11,162 (24.0) | 11,677 (14.8) | 51 |  |
 2 | 9326 (20.1) | 17,148 (21.8) | 65 |  |
 3 | 6661 (14.3) | 16,301 (20.7) | 71 |  |
 4 | 6710 (14.4) | 20,403 (25.9) | 75 |  |
 5 | 4195 (9.0) | 8100 (10.3) | 66 |  |
Variables | Children exposed to violence in-utero | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Y | % children exposed to violence (%) | p | |
N | 70,323 | 54,855 | 44 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
No education | 22,343 (31.8) | 18,400 (33.5) | 45 | Â |
 Primary | 10,562 (15.0) | 7910 (14.4) | 43 |  |
 Secondary | 31,298 (44.5) | 24,848 (45.3) | 44 |  |
 Higher | 6120 (8.7) | 3697 (6.7) | 38 |  |
Mother's height [mean (SD)] | 1592.84 (837.02) | 1560.20 (646.48) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 452 | 269 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 5757 (8.2) | 8539 (15.6) | 60 |  |
 Hindu | 48,647 (69.2) | 32,728 (59.7) | 40 |  |
 Muslim | 12,238 (17.4) | 11,393 (20.8) | 48 |  |
 Other | 3681 (5.2) | 2195 (4.0) | 37 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Schedule caste | 13,840 (20.5) | 7367 (14.8) | 35 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 12,657 (18.7) | 16,821 (33.8) | 57 |  |
 Other backward caste | 27,856 (41.2) | 16,663 (33.4) | 37 |  |
 Forward caste | 12,792 (18.9) | 8693 (17.5) | 40 |  |
 Don't know | 517 (0.8) | 271 (0.5) | 34 |  |
 Missing | 2661 | 5040 |  |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Poorest | 19,389 (27.6) | 18,513 (33.7) | 49 |  |
 Poorer | 16,527 (23.5) | 15,550 (28.3) | 48 |  |
 Middle | 13,932 (19.8) | 10,260 (18.7) | 42 |  |
 Richer | 11,100 (15.8) | 6515 (11.9) | 37 |  |
 Richest | 9375 (13.3) | 4017 (7.3) | 30 |  |
Type of residence = rural (%) | 52,832 (75.1) | 45,134 (82.3) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of years in current residence [mean (SD)] | 16.55 (27.32) | 16.08 (26.30) | Â | 0.002 |
Child's gender = female (%) | 33,435 (47.5) | 26,693 (48.7) |  |  < 0.001 |
Age of child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 8583 (12.2) | 4912 (9.0) | 36 |  |
 1 | 12,859 (18.3) | 9980 (18.2) | 44 |  |
 2 | 14,011 (19.9) | 12,463 (22.7) | 47 |  |
 3 | 13,186 (18.8) | 9776 (17.8) | 43 |  |
 4 | 14,567 (20.7) | 12,546 (22.9) | 46 |  |
 5 | 7117 (10.1) | 5178 (9.4) | 42 |  |
Variables | Children exposed to violence between 0 and 3Â years | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Y | % children exposed to violence (%) | p | |
N | 60,968 | 64,210 | 51 | Â |
Mother's education (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No education | 18,993 (31.2) | 21,750 (33.9) | 53 |  |
 Primary | 8849 (14.5) | 9623 (15.0) | 52 |  |
 Secondary | 27,676 (45.4) | 28,470 (44.3) | 51 |  |
 Higher | 5450 (8.9) | 4367 (6.8) | 44 |  |
Mother's height [mean (SD)] | 1600.15 (872.35) | 1558.02 (633.61) |  |  < 0.001 |
 Missing | 392 | 329 |  |  |
Religion (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Christian | 4297 (7.0) | 9999 (15.6) | 70 |  |
 Hindu | 42,921 (70.4) | 38,454 (59.9) | 47 |  |
 Muslim | 10,395 (17.0) | 13,236 (20.6) | 56 |  |
 Other | 3355 (5.5) | 2521 (3.9) | 43 |  |
Caste (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Schedule caste | 11,916 (20.3) | 9291 (15.8) | 44 |  |
 Schedule tribe | 10,981 (18.7) | 18,497 (31.5) | 63 |  |
 Other backward caste | 23,917 (40.7) | 20,602 (35.1) | 46 |  |
 Forward caste | 11,421 (19.4) | 10,064 (17.1) | 47 |  |
 Don't know | 499 (0.8) | 289 (0.5) | 37 |  |
 Missing | 2234 | 5467 | 37 |  |
Wealth Quintile (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Poorest | 17,049 (28.0) | 20,853 (32.5) | 55 |  |
 Poorer | 14,236 (23.3) | 17,841 (27.8) | 56 |  |
 Middle | 11,999 (19.7) | 12,193 (19.0) | 50 |  |
 Richer | 9591 (15.7) | 8024 (12.5) | 46 |  |
 Richest | 8093 (13.3) | 5299 (8.3) | 40 |  |
Type of residence = rural (%) | 45,590 (74.8) | 52,376 (81.6) |  |  < 0.001 |
Number of years in current residence [mean (SD)] | 16.15 (27.42) | 16.54 (26.35) | Â | 0.011 |
Child's sex = female (%) | 28,991 (47.6) | 31,137 (48.5) |  | 0.001 |
Age of child (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 0 | 12,554 (20.6) | 941 (1.5) | 7 |  |
 1 | 14,994 (24.6) | 7845 (12.2) | 34 |  |
 2 | 12,045 (19.8) | 14,429 (22.5) | 55 |  |
 3 | 7629 (12.5) | 15,333 (23.9) | 67 |  |
 4 | 8425 (13.8) | 18,688 (29.1) | 69 |  |
 5 | 5321 (8.7) | 6974 (10.9) | 57 |  |