Childhood physical and sexual abuse and subsequent depressive and anxiety disorders for two American Indian tribes

Background. This study examined the relationship of childhood abuse, both physical and sexual, with subsequent lifetime depressive and anxiety disorders – depression or dysthymia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and panic or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) – among American Indians (AIs).Method. Three thousand and eighty-four AIs from two tribes – Southwest and Northern Plains – participated in a large-scale, community-based study. Participants were asked about traumatic events and family history, and were administered standard diagnostic measures of depressive/anxiety disorders.Results. Prevalence of childhood physical abuse was approximately 7% for both tribes. The Southwest tribe had higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders, with rates of PTSD being the highest. Childhood physical abuse was significant in bivariate models of depressive/anxiety disorders, and remained so in the multivariate models.Conclusions. Childhood physical abuse was a significant predictor of all disorder groups for males in both tribes except for panic/GAD for the Northern Plains tribe in multivariate models; females showed a more varied pattern. Childhood sexual abuse did not significantly differ for males and females, and was an independent predictor of PTSD for both tribes, controlling for childhood physical abuse and other factors, and was significant for the other disorder groups only in the Southwest. Additional covariates that increased the odds of depressive/anxiety disorders were adult physical or sexual victimization, chronic illness, lifetime alcohol or drug disorder, and parental problems with depression, alcohol, or violence. Results provided empirical evidence of childhood and later life risk factors and expanded the population at risk to include males.

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The Relationship Between Adult Psychological Adjustment and Childhood Sexual Abuse, Childhood Physical Abuse, and Family-of-Origin Characteristics

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/088626000015012001 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. 1243-1261 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

SHANE KAMSNER ◽

MARITA P. McCABE

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Psychological Adjustment ◽

Family Of Origin ◽

Childhood Physical Abuse ◽

The Relationship

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Childhood Physical Abuse Casts a Very Long Shadow: Physical and Mental Illness Among Older Adults

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 313-313

Author(s):

Esme Fuller-Thomson ◽

Anna S Buhrmann

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Physical Health ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Later Life ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Childhood Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Wide Range

Abstract A burgeoning literature indicates adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with chronic illness. Most research, to date, has not focused on health outcomes among older adults. The objectives of the current study were to identify the prevalence and adjusted odds of two mental health and six physical health conditions among survivors of childhood physical abuse (CPA) who were aged 60 and older (n=409) in comparison to their peers who had not been physically abused (n=4,659). Data were drawn from a representative sample of older British Columbians in the Canadian Community Health Survey. Logistic regression analyses took into account sex, race, age, immigration status, marital status, education, income, smoking, obesity, binge drinking and number of other ACEs. For 3 health outcomes, CPA survivors had adjusted odds ratio more than twice that of their peers (Anxiety OR=2.22; 95% CI=1.46, 3.38; Depression OR=2.17; 95% CI=1.57, 3.01; COPD OR=2.03; 95% CI=1.40, 2.94). For CPA survivors, the adjusted odds ratios were more than 50% higher for cancer (OR=1.71; 95% CI=1.31, 2.24), migraine (OR=1.67; 95% CI=1.15, 2.45) and debilitating chronic pain (OR=1.58; 95% CI=1.22, 2.03), and 33% higher for arthritis (OR=1.33; 95% CI=1.05, 1.69). CPA was not significantly associated with either heart disease or diabetes (p>.05). The association between CPA and two mental health and four physical health outcomes remained significant, even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors and other ACEs. Further research is needed to investigate potential pathways through which childhood physical abuse is linked to a wide range of chronic later-life health problems.

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Association of childhood maltreatment with internalising and externalising disorders in trauma-exposed adolescents

South African Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v24i0.1266 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 ◽

Author(s):

Leigh L. Van den Heuvel ◽

Milo Koning ◽

Jani Nöthling ◽

Soraya Seedat

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

Externalising Disorders ◽

Internalising Disorders ◽

Ptsd Severity

Introduction: South African adolescents experience high levels of trauma, including various types of childhood maltreatment. Different types of maltreatment often co-occur. Previous research suggests that childhood maltreatment provokes a latent liability to internalising and externalising dimensions of psychopathology. Our objective was to examine the effects of childhood maltreatment on internalising and externalising disorders in trauma-exposed adolescents and to assess the mediating effect of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on these associations.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 262 trauma exposed adolescents (aged 12–18 years) in South Africa. Childhood maltreatment and PTSD severity were assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Child PTSD Checklist, respectively. Psychiatric disorders were diagnosed utilising the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia – Present and Lifetime version – and were grouped into internalising and externalising disorders. Hierarchal logistic regression was used to assess the association between childhood maltreatment types and internalising and externalising disorders, controlling for statistically significant socio-demographic characteristics, with PTSD severity added to the final model as a potential mediator.Results: Sexual abuse was significantly associated with internalising disorders (B = 0.07, p = 0.011), although this effect was mediated by PTSD severity (B = 0.05, p = 0.001; not included as an internalising disorder). In contrast, physical abuse (B = 0.09, p = 0.004) and gender (B = 0.70, p = 0.035) were associated with externalising disorders, but the addition of PTSD severity did not significantly alter these associations.Conclusion: The association between sexual abuse and internalising disorders was fully mediated by PTSD symptom severity. Gender and physical abuse severity, but not PTSD severity, was associated with the presence of externalising disorders. Adolescents displaying internalising or externalising psychopathology need to be assessed for exposure to childhood physical and sexual abuse and PTSD comorbidity.

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Association between childhood trauma and physical disorders among adults in the United States

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s003329170300134x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 509-520 ◽

Cited By ~ 202

Author(s):

RENEE D. GOODWIN ◽

MURRAY B. STEIN

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Sexual Abuse ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

The United States ◽

Biological Data ◽

Childhood Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Neglect ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Physical Disorders

Background. The goal of this investigation was to determine the association between self-reported childhood trauma and physical disorders among adults in the United States.Method. Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey (N=S877). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the associations between childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and childhood neglect and the likelihood of specific physical disorders among adults.Results. Childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect were associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of a wide range of physical illnesses during adulthood. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, lifetime anxiety and depressive disorders, alcohol and substance dependence, and all types of trauma: results showed that childhood physical abuse was associated with increased risk of lung disease (OR=1·5 (1·1, 2·2)), peptic ulcer (OR=1·5 (1·03, 2·2)) and arthritic disorders (OR=1·5 (1·1, 2·2)); childhood sexual abuse was associated with increased risk of cardiac disease (OR=3·7 (1·5, 9·4)); and childhood neglect was associated with increased risk of diabetes (OR=2·2 (1·1, 4·4)) and autoimmune disorders (OR=4·4 (1·7, 11·6)).Conclusions. Consistent with previous work, these results suggest that self-reported childhood trauma is associated with increased risk of a range of physical illnesses during adulthood. Future research that includes replication of these findings using prospectively assessed physical and mental disorders with objectively measured biological data using a longitudinal design, including other known risk factors for these diseases and more detailed information on specific forms of abuse, is needed to understand the potential mechanisms of these links.

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The Effects of Childhood Physical Abuse or Childhood Sexual Abuse in Battered Women's Coping Mechanisms: Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies and Severe Depression

Journal of Family Violence ◽

10.1007/s10896-006-9019-1 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 185-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Debra K. Miller

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Severe Depression ◽

Coping Mechanisms ◽

Childhood Physical Abuse ◽

Obsessive Compulsive

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Stigma as a barrier to addressing childhood trauma in conversation with trauma survivors: A study in the general population

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258782 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0258782

Author(s):

Georg Schomerus ◽

Stephanie Schindler ◽

Theresia Rechenberg ◽

Tobias Gfesser ◽

Hans J. Grabe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

General Population ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Social Distance ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Childhood Physical Abuse ◽

Negative Stereotypes

Victims of childhood trauma report shame and anticipation of stigma, leading to non-disclosure and avoidance of help. Stigma is potentially aggravating the mental health consequences of childhood trauma. So far there is no comprehensive study examining stigma toward adult survivors of various forms of childhood trauma, and it is unclear whether stigma interferes with reaching out to affected individuals. In a vignette study based on a representative sample of the German general population (N = 1320; 47.7% male) we randomly allocated participants to brief case vignettes pertaining to past childhood sexual/physical abuse or accidents, and adult physical abuse. Stigma was elicited by applying the Social Distance Scale, assessing respondents’ attitudes/stereotypes toward the persons in the vignette and their reluctance to address the specific trauma in conversation. While one aim was to establish the prevalence of stigma toward persons with CT, we hypothesized that attitudes differ according to type of trauma. Of the respondents, 45% indicated they were unlikely to reach out to a victim of childhood sexual abuse, 38% to a victim of childhood physical abuse, 31% to someone reporting a childhood accident and 25% to someone reporting adult physical abuse. Contrary to our expectations, childhood sexual abuse did not consistently elicit more stigma than childhood physical abuse in Krukall-Wallis tests. Equally, childhood interpersonal trauma did not consistently elicit more stigma than childhood accidental trauma. Structural equation modeling revealed social distance as mediator of the relationship between negative stereotypes and reluctance to address childhood trauma in conversation. Our analyses further revealed an ambiguous role of negative stereotypes in addressing childhood trauma in conversation with trauma victims, which has yet to be examined. There is evidence for stigma associated with having survived childhood trauma, which is interfering with offering help.

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