Association of child maltreatment subtypes and long-term physical health in a German representative sample

Abstract

Background: Child maltreatment is a major public problem, associated with enormous consequences on the individual and socioeconomic level. Studies show a clear impact of child maltreatment on long-term physical health. However, there is a lack of analyses comprising a wide variety of subtypes of maltreatment and addressing cumulative effects of different maltreatment subtypes experienced during childhood on physical health. Objective: The objective of this analysis was to assess the association of different subtypes and the intensity of child maltreatment with long-term physical health outcomes. Methods: In a cross-sectional observational approach, a representative sample of the German population (N=2510) was assessed regarding socioeconomic information, their current health status, and their experiences of child maltreatment using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Chi2-Tests were performed to compare differences of physical health conditions in adulthood in association with child maltreatment and binary regression analyses to assess the relationship of physical health and number of different subtypes of maltreatment experienced during childhood. Results: Odds increased significantly for obesity (1.8), diabetes (1.26), cancer (1.28), hypertension (1.16), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.51), history of myocardial infarction (1.29) and stroke (1.31) with increasingenhancing number of experienced subtypes of child maltreatment. Growing intensity of each subtype of maltreatment was associated with higher rates of all assessed physical health conditions, which could point towards a dose-dependency of the relationship between maltreatment and long-term physical health. Conclusions: Child maltreatment is associated with increased odds for the leading morbidity and mortality causes in Germany. Interventions encompassing secondary and primary preventive strategies are critical to target this major public health problem and its devastating consequences.

A decennial review of psychotraumatology: what did we learn and where are we going?

“…obesity, hypertension) and illness (e.g. cardiopulmonary disease, cancer) across the lifespan (Clemens et al, 2018).…”

Assessment of Additional Medical Costs Among Older Adults in Japan With a History of Childhood Maltreatment

“…This finding is in line with a previous study using the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey data that indicated childhood physical abuse was associated with stroke, cancer, and other diseases. 48 Emotional neglect has also been found to be associated with an increased risk of such diseases, 49 Furthermore, we estimated that additional medical costs associated with childhood maltreatment were more than ¥333 billion (US$3.1 billion) per year nationwide, which is approximately 0.9% of total annual medical spending (ie, the sum of outpatient, inpatient, and pharmaceutical costs) in Japan in FY2012 and FY2013 and 8.4% of total annual medical spending among those aged 65 to 74 years in FY2012 and FY2013. 36,37 These figures suggest tremendous long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment, considering that this estimate is only for those aged 65 to 74 years who are functionally independent.…”

Trennung der Eltern – Liegt die Hauptbelastung in der Kumulation mit anderen Kindheitsbelastungen? Untersuchung einer repräsentativen Stichprobe der deutschen Bevölkerung

“…1 dargestellt. [15,29]. Dass die Assoziation von dem Erleben der elterlichen Trennung mit Beeinträchtigungen im Erwachsenenalter teilweise durch das Erleben von Kindesmisshandlung vermittelt wird, konnte in anderen Analyse bereits gezeigt werden [14].…”