Making a link between childhood physical abuse and cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Abuse in childhood is associated with many negative adult health outcomes. Only 1 study to date has found an association between childhood abuse and cancer. By using a regionally representative community sample, this preliminary study sought to investigate the association between childhood physical abuse and cancer while controlling for 3 clusters of risk factors: childhood stressors, adult health behaviors, and adult socioeconomic status.METHODS:Regional data from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan were selected from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of the 13,092 respondents, 7.4% (n = 1025) reported that they had been physically abused as a child by someone close to them, and 5.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9‐6.6) reported that they had been diagnosed with cancer by a health professional. The regional level response rate was 84%.RESULTS:Childhood physical abuse was associated with 49% higher odds (95% CI, 1.10‐2.01) of cancer when adjusting for age, sex, and race only. The odds ratio decreased only slightly to 47% higher odds (95% CI, 1.05‐1.99) when the model was adjusted for all 3 clusters of risk factors.CONCLUSIONS:A significant and highly stable association between childhood physical abuse and cancer was found even when adjusting for 3 clusters of risk factors. Further research focusing on the potential mechanisms linking childhood abuse and cancer is needed. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.

The enduring effects of early-childhood adversities and troubled sleep among Canadian adults: a population-based study

“…Most of these studies have shown higher rates of poor physical health [24][25][26], obesity [18], anxiety and depression [27], personality disorders [28], aggression and attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [29], substance use disorders [30], chronic conditions [31], and suicide-related behaviors [32,33] among adults with a history of childhood adversities.…”

Harsh Physical Punishment in Childhood and Adult Physical Health

“…10,11 Child maltreatment has also been linked to physical symptoms such as pain, physical health conditions including disability, poor or fair self-rated health, and frequent emergency department visits. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Infants experiencing frequent physical punishment have been shown to have high hormonal reactivity to stress. 25 It could be that children experience cumulative exposure to physical punishment as psychologically and physically stressful, which is the case for child maltreatment.…”

Masthead

“…Evidence has demonstrated links between childhood maltreatment and a range of illnesses in adulthood, such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic lung disease and cancer (Fuller-Thomson and Brennenstuhl 2009;Gilbert 2009;Krug et al 2002). Perhaps the most prevalent of these health linkages -in both childhood and adulthood -is the relationship of child abuse and neglect to mental health conditions.…”