Child abuse is a serious problem that results in devastating and long lasting damage to individual
and community at large. Child abuse is a global issue affects children of all ages, gender, races, and
ethnicities and in varied socio economic classes linked to causes of child morbidity, mortality,
school refusal and educational dropout. Aim of the study: This study aimed to identify the
correlation between child abuse and school refusal among primary school children in Benha City,
Qaliubya Governorate. Sample: The study sample consisted of 400 students from 5th and 6th grade
of education from Alshahid Abdal-Monem Riad School. Research Design: A descriptive
correlational design was utilized in this study. Tools: In this study two tools were used for data
collection: I) a structured interviewing questionnaire included socio-demographic data of the
studied students and their parents as well as questionnaire about different types of child abuse. II)
School Refusal Assessment Scale. Results: The results revealed that, near to half of the studied
children have moderate level of child abuse from their family, near to half have high level of child
abuse from school and less than half of them have mild level of school refusal behavior. Also, there
was a highly statistically positive correlation between total child abuse and total school refusal
scales among primary school children in Benha city. Conclusion: The study concluded that studied
children exposed to child abuse from family, school, have exposed to mild level of school refusal
and there was a highly statistically positive correlation between total child abuse and total school
refusal scales among primary school children in Benha city. Recommendations: Therapeutic
guidance programs should be prepared for children who exposed to child abuse or have school
refusal. Psycho-educational programs should be integrated as nursing intervention for students and
their parents to enhance their psychological wellbeing as well as reducing school refusal .