Aim Our aim was to assess the prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of violence against children in postcommunist Albania.

Methods A survey was conducted in 2008 including 388 children aged 14–18 years (184 girls and 204 boys) who were users of health services in four districts of Albania: Shkoder, Elbasan, Tirana and Vlora. A structured questionnaire was administrated including information on occurrence and type of experienced domestic violence (physical, psychological and emotional), as well as sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics of children and their parents.

Results Forty-three per cent of the children included in the survey reported they suffered at least one type of domestic violence, mainly perpetrated by their mothers. Psychological abuse was significantly more prevalent than the other types of violence. Significant determinants of both physical abuse and psychological violence were mothers lower educational attainment, a low family income and fathers unemployment.

Conclusions Our findings indicate that, in Albania, the prevalence of violence against children is high, especially so for the psychological violence. Effective programs should be implemented in order to control and prevent all types of child abuse in transitional Albania.