L13

2

Children at Risk of Abuse or Neglect

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Resource 1

Three risk factors for child maltreatment were analyzed: parental mental illness, parental drug abuse, and parental exposure to family abuse by Fuller-Thomson, Sawyer, and Agbeyaka (2021). Family abuse increased the chance of child maltreatment more than any other predictor, including parental drug misuse or psychological problems. Male and female participants were polled in two studies, one in 2010 and another in 2012. More than a third of both males and females who had seen domestic violence but had never witnessed parental mental illness or addiction said they had been mistreated. More than a third of people who experienced two risk variables reported physical abuse in childhood, and more than two-thirds of people who experienced all three risk variables reported mental abuse in childhood. It is obvious that a child's chance of being abused rises in proportion to the number of risk factors to which he or she is exposed. Our research found that domestic violence was the most reliably associated risk factor for child maltreatment.

Fuller-Thomson, E., Sawyer, J. L., & Agbeyaka, S. (2021). The toxic triad: childhood exposure to domestic violence, parental addictions, and parental mental illness are associated with childhood physical abuse.  Journal of interpersonal violence,  36(17-18), NP9015-NP9034.

Resource 2

The authors wanted to learn more about the link between childhood conduct disorder (CPD) and adult aggression, so they looked into the possible roles that guilt and narcissistic fragility play in making this connection. They theorized that adult victims of CPA would be more prone to emotions of guilt and narcissistic fragility and more likely to exhibit rage and aggression compared to individuals who had not been victims of CPA. Students were surveyed using a 14-item questionnaire tailored to child physical abuse (CPA), including items on shattered bones, spanking with a board, and other forms of severe punishment. Questions regarding narcissistic vulnerabilities, including exploitation, self-concealment, shame, rage, and violence, were also included. When participants were asked about their emotional states, they reported greater degrees of wrath, aggressiveness, and hostility if they had experienced CPA. They found confirmation of their hypothesis that those who had been abused were more likely to feel shame and had more narcissistic susceptibility. This article presents several findings that may be useful in elucidating the link between CPA and subsequent hostile and aggressive behaviors.

Keene, A., & Epps, J. (2018). Childhood physical abuse and aggression: Shame and narcissistic vulnerability.  Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, 276–283. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.09.012  

Resource 3

This research looked specifically at Wisconsin's white, middle-aged men and women (mean age 55). It looked at the connection between physical abuse in childhood and the long-term health and mental impacts in adulthood. In order to quantify the prevalence of physical abuse in childhood, researchers used a questionnaire based on the Conflict Tactics Scale to inquire about specific instances of abuse experienced as a kid. Additional factors were physical health, family history, and early hardship. Researchers observed that maltreated children were more likely to be raised by alcoholics or in unstable families. On every measure of health (medical diagnoses, physical symptoms, sadness, anxiety, and rage), abused individuals rated themselves as being in worse shape than their non-abused counterparts. Without regard to gender, age, socioeconomic status, or other factors, a history of childhood physical abuse strongly predicts poor health as an adult. In particular, the 102% rise in reporting more anger than 90% of the population indicates the wide range of negative physiological and mental impacts documented in this research over four decades later in adults who had experienced childhood abuse. This research will help demonstrate how physical abuse in childhood may negatively affect a person's health even into their later years.

Springer, K., Sheridan, J., Kuo, D., & Carnes, M. (2017). Long-term physical and mental health consequences of childhood physical abuse: Results from a large population-based sample of men and women.  Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(5), 517–530.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.01.003

Resource 4

This study looked at the role of social support in the correlation between childhood abuse and adult depression among a sample of people with a median age of 43. There was a preponderance of African Americans (93%) and females (54%). In order to gauge how depressed the subjects were, the Beck Depression Inventory was employed. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was used to measure the extent of mental, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect. The Social Support Behaviors Scale was used to measure social support. Women reported more severe depressive symptoms than males in the group of individuals who had suffered abuse as children. Perceived family support was substantially inversely connected to both adult depression and childhood abuse. Females who experienced emotional abuse or neglect were more likely to report reduced depressive symptoms if they felt their friends were there for them. With the inclusion of neglect and mental abuse, I believe this research will be fascinating to apply to child abuse, albeit it may be challenging to differentiate the impacts of physical violence exclusively.

Powers, A., Ressler, K., & Bradley, R. (2019). The protective role of friendship on the effects of childhood abuse and depression.  Depression and Anxiety, 26(1), 46–53.  https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20534

Resource 5

The effects of sexual and physical abuse on middle-aged women (mean age 52) were investigated, focusing on obesity and depression via the intermediary roles of binge eating and body dissatisfaction. The paper analyzed responses to four items from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to determine the prevalence of maltreatment (which included sexual and physical abuse). For this study, researchers used body mass index (BMI) scores to assess obesity as a dependent variable and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) to assess depression using DSM-IV criteria for severe depression. Three questions were used to gauge binge eating and one to gauge body dissatisfaction as mediators. According to the study, childhood trauma contributes to adult obesity via a chain of events, including binge eating and body dissatisfaction. To further understand the connection between sexual and physical abuse as a kid and obesity and depression as an adult, researchers looked at potential mediating factors, such as binge eating and body dissatisfaction. This research will add to the existing knowledge on child maltreatment's mental and physical impacts.

Rohde, P., Ichikawa, L., Simon, G. E., Ludman, E. J., Linde, J. A., Jeffery, R. W., & Operskalski, B. H. (2018). Associations of child sexual and physical abuse with obesity and depression in middle-aged women.  Child abuse & neglect,  32(9), 878-887.