Summary: A new study finds that adults who have experienced both physical and sexual abuse in childhood are about twice as likely to suffer from chronic physical and mental health issues, including depression, arthritis, asthma, and heart conditions. Experience of one type of abuse significantly increased the likelihood of adverse adult health outcomes.
In particular, the presence of protective adults in children’s homes significantly reduced the severity of long-term health effects associated with abuse. Even among unabducted children, lack of protective adults increased health risks and emphasized the importance of a stable supportive relationship in childhood.
Important Facts:
Increased health risk: Adults are harmful because children have significantly higher odds (up to twice as high) for their chronic physical and mental health.
Source: University of Toronto
A new study published this week in Child Abuse found that adults who experienced both physical and sexual abuse in childhood doubled the odds of their physical and mental health, including angina, arthritis, asthma, COPD, heart attack, depression, and disability, compared to those who were not abused in childhood.
Those who were sexually abused but not physically abused were 55% to 90% more likely to experience these health outcomes compared to their peers who had not experienced abuse.
Adults who were physically abused but not sexually abused had a significantly higher likelihood of these health outcomes compared to those who were not abused, but the association was more modest (20% to 50%).
“People don’t usually think about the early adversity can bring to health outcomes later in life,” says Shannon Halls, research coordinator at the University of Toronto Life Course and the Institute of Aging.
“Our research highlights the harmful link between early adversity such as sexual and physical abuse and a wide range of adult health issues.”
In investigating this association, this study examined whether the presence of adults in families that made children feel safe and protected were associated with long-term health outcomes for children who experienced abuse.
“We found that the negative effects of abuse on adult health when children experiencing abuse have protective adults at home,” says co-author Andy McNeill, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW).
“While more research is needed to identify the exact mechanisms, it is clear that these relationships can play an important role in supporting children and reducing the negative effects of abuse.”
The presence of protected adults was not only important to children who had experienced abuse, but also to children who had not been abused. Regardless of childhood abuse status, children without adults in their home protection were 20-40% more likely to experience physical health outcomes and were twice as likely to suffer from depression in adulthood.
“The meaning here is that lack of a safe and stable relationship with adults can be as harmful to a child’s health as physically abused,” says Esme Fuller-Thomson, a professor at FIFSW and director of the Life Course Institute and senior author of the aging population at the University of Toronto.
The authors of this study point out the need for future research to resolve these findings in particular.
“It is important to investigate why some adults in the home don’t protect their children properly and discuss potential primary prevention interventions that can help parents provide a more protective environment for children,” said Philip Biden, an associate professor of social work at the University of Texas.
This study analyzed data from the behavioral risk factor monitoring system for 2021 and 2022. This is a large representative sample that includes over 80,000 adult US respondents.
“Our research demonstrates the importance of positive relationships between children and adults in life,” says Hall. “We hope these findings can contribute to a better understanding of creating effective programs aimed at children experiencing abuse.”
About this Child Abuse and Mental Health Research News
Author: Dale Duncan
Source: University of Toronto
Contact: Dale Duncan – University of Toronto
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“The role of protective adults in mitigating health outcomes related to childhood physical and sexual abuse,” Shannon Halls et al. Child abuse
Abstract
The role of protected adults in mitigating health outcomes related to childhood physical and sexual abuse.
Physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Protective factors contribute to resilience and may reduce the risk of health outcomes in these adults.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the presence of protected adults can mitigate the association between childhood abuse and negative adult health outcomes. Data were obtained from the 2021 and 2022 behavioral risk factor monitoring systems (n = 83,495).
Binary logistic regression was used to compare the odds of health outcomes among adults who experienced abuse compared to adults who experienced abuse before age 18, and to adjust for the presence of protective adults and sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health behavioral factors.
Childhood physical and/or sexual abuse was associated with a higher probability of physical and mental health in adulthood. Adjusting for the presence of protected adults partially attenuated the probability of health outcomes in many adults.
Understanding protective factors associated with childhood abuse could provide directions that improve targeted outreach and help develop effective programs for children experiencing abuse.
