NCJ Number
145420
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1993) Pages: 623-640
Date Published
1993
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The long-term health effects of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during childhood were studied in a sample of 668 middle-class females in a gynecological practice who responded to a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire covering demographic information, family history, physical and psychological health, and stressful events and abusive experiences as a child.
Abstract
The participants ranged from 16 to 76 years of age and were mostly (95.2 percent) white. They represented 60 percent of those to whom the questionnaire was mailed. Results revealed that 53 percent of the sample reported childhood abuse. Twenty-eight percent experienced one type of abuse, 18.7 percent experienced two types of abuse, and 5.4 percent experienced all three types of abuse. In comparison to women not abused during childhood, the abused women reported significantly more hospitalizations for illnesses, a greater number of physical and psychological problems, and lower rating of their overall health. A greater number of childhood abuses was associated to poorer adult health and a greater likelihood of having experienced abuse as an adult. Thus, childhood abuse appears to adversely affect women's physical health as well as having the harmful psychological consequences described in the literature. Tables and 53 references (Author abstract modified)