Effects of Adolescent Physical Abuse, Exposure to Neighborhood Violence, and Witnessing Parental Violence on Adult Socioeconomic Status

Abstract

Research on the effects of adolescent physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence, and perceptions of community violence have generally, with few exceptions, found them to be predictive of subsequent negative behavioral outcomes, such as substance abuse, crime, and other problem behaviors. Less frequently studied is the relationship of these adverse adolescent experiences to adult socioeconomic statuses. This study utilizes longitudinal self-report data from the National Youth Survey Family Study to investigate how these three factors influence future socioeconomic statuses: marital status, educational attainment, employment, income, and wealth (net worth). Significant associations with adult socioeconomic statuses are found most often for physical abuse, but neighborhood violence is the only one of the three that is predictive of adult employment. Witnessing parental violence is associated with adult income and net worth. Limitations and policy implications of the present research, in the context of past research in this area, are considered.

Child Maltreatment and Adult Living Standards at 50 Years

“…40 With few exceptions, 9 previous studies examine single (eg, sexual abuse 38,41 ) or combined maltreatments without examining potential differential effects. 8 Nevertheless, our findings generally agree with the literature, 10,38,41,42 thereby adding credence to the growing evidence (especially given differences in maltreatment ascertainment methods). For example, the detrimental maltreatment associations with education, employment, and assets in our general population agree with those for documented (ie, more extreme) maltreatment.…”

“…10 Our witnessing abuse findings are novel; to our knowledge, this has not been examined, although witnessing parental violence has been associated with lower adult income. 42 However, not all findings are consistent; for example, sexual abuse and education associations shown here agree with some 43 but not all 38 studies and sex differences 10,41 in associations were not replicated. Child neglect and sexual abuse, but no other maltreatments, were associated with social class at 50 years and, interestingly, these groups were less likely to be upwardly mobile across and within generations.…”

“…19 Information was collected throughout childhood (at birth and at 7, 11, and 16 years) and adulthood (23,33,42,45, and 50 years) from individuals, as well as parents, teachers and school doctors (childhood surveys) and nurses (at 45 years). Of the 11 971 invited, 9377 participated in the 45-year survey, with 9315 completing childhood maltreatment questions; of these, 8150 participated at 50 years (Supplemental Fig 1).…”

Child maltreatment and pediatric asthma: a review of the literature

“…Physicians, however, may also be more likely to make diagnoses of abuse when dealing with children from lower SES backgrounds, suggesting that reporting may be biased towards lower SES samples [87]. In addition, youth who experience maltreatment tend to have lower SES as adults, e.g., lower educational attainment and occupational prestige, indicating bidirectional relations between child maltreatment and achieved SES [88, 89]. Further supporting the importance of considering SES, associations between child maltreatment and later general health-related quality of life tend to shrink after careful control for SES variables [90] and there are synergistic effects of child maltreatment experiences and SES on child social and cognitive development [91].…”

Three Types of Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Alcohol and Drug Dependence Among Adults: An Investigation Using Population-Based Data

“…These include the following: (1) poor mental health status, especially presence of depression or anxiety (Compton et al, 2007;Edwards et al, 2003;Fergusson et al, 2008;Hasin et al, 2007;Russell et al, 2010); (2) presence of physical health problems, such as sleep and pain disorders, (Chapman et al, 2011;Davis et al, 2005;Friedmann & Stein, 2006;Manchikanti et al, 2006) (3) use of tobacco (Compton et al, 2007;Ford et al, 2011;Fuller-Thomson et al, 2013;Hasin et al, 2007); (4) lack of social support (Chou et al, 2011;Colman & Widom, 2004); and (5) low socioeconomic status (SES) (Compton et al, 2007;Covey et al, 2013;Hasin et al, 2007;Zielinski, 2009).…”