Medical problems of adults who were sexually abused in childhood.

Arnold, R.P.; Rogers, Donald R.; Cook, David Angus Graham

doi:10.1136/bmj.300.6726.705

Cited by 106 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This finding is consistent with the findings of other reports, although some found that not only physical abuse survivors but also sexual abuse survivors are more likely than nonabused patients to report somatic symptoms (Arnold et al, 1990;Ross et d., 1990;Drosman et d., 1990;Williams et al, 1992;Pribr et al, 1993;Anderson et d., 1993). The reason that patients with sexual abuse histories in our study did not complain about somatic symptoms more than those Y. Ono et al…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Relationship of Childhood Abuse to Psychiatric Distress, Social Adjustment, and Eating Disorder Severity in Japanese Bulimics

Ono

Berger

Saito

et al. 1996

Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Relationship of Childhood Abuse to Psychiatric Distress, Social Adjustment, and Eating Disorder Severity in Japanese Bulimics

Ono

Berger

Saito

et al. 1996

Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev.

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“…Several groups, using various methods, have reported an increase in a range of psychiatric disorders [1]. Some attention has also been paid to unexplained medical symptoms, those clinically challenging conditions whose pathology is not clearly understood and whose treatment is often difficult [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The focus has been particularly on chronic pelvic pain [7, 8, 9, 10, 11]and so-called functional gastro-intestinal disorders, especially irritable bowel syndrome [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Abuse and Later Medical Disorders in Women

Romans

Belaise

Martin

et al. 2002

Psychother Psychosom

237

166

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Background: There have been many studies documenting adverse psychiatric consequences for people who have experienced childhood and adult sexual and physical abuse. These include posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders and probably some personality disorders or trait abnormalities. Much less is known about the links between abuse and physical/psychosomatic conditions in adult life. Hints of causal links are evident in the literature discussing headache, lower back pain, pelvic pain and irritable bowel syndrome. These studies are not definitive as they use clinic-based samples. Methods: This study used interview data with a random community sample of New Zealand women, half of whom reported childhood sexual abuse and half who did not. Details about childhood physical abuse and adult abuse were also collected in a two-phase study. Results: Complex relationships were found, as abuses tended to co-occur. Seven of 18 potentially relevant medical conditions emerged as significantly increased in women with one or more types of abuse. These were chronic fatigue, bladder problems, headache including migraine, asthma, diabetes and heart problems. Several of these associations with abuse are previously unreported. Conclusions: In this random community sample, a number of chronic physical conditions were found more often in women who reported different types of sexual and physical abuse, both in childhood and in adult life. The causal relationships cannot be studied in a cross-sectional retrospective design, but immature coping strategies and increased rates of dissociation appeared important only in chronic fatigue and headache, suggesting that these are not part of the causal pathway between abuse experiences and the other later physical health problems. This finding and the low co-occurrence of the identified physical conditions suggest relative specificity rather than a general vulnerability to psychosomatic conditions in women who have suffered abuses. Each condition may require separate further study.

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“…Thus sexual abuse survivors' distress is compounded: they may find themselves dismissed as hypochondriacs, as 'Munchausens', as troublemakers, or as 'heartsink' patients. Alternatively, as Arnold et al (1990) graphically showed (even measuring the thickness of their medical files! ), they may undergo years of repeated, needless or damaging examinations and surgery.…”

Section: 'The Direct Effects Of Violence and Injury Repeated Over Yementioning

confidence: 99%

Physical symptoms in sexually abused women: somatization or undetected injury?

Nelson

2002

Child Abuse Review

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Medically unexplained physical symptoms and disorders in women sexually abused in childhood are widely interpreted as somatization-the expression of emotional pain and stress through bodily symptoms. However, the somatization theory is not based on detailed knowledge of the abusive incidents, and may underestimate the direct effects of violence and injury, repeated over years, to 'The direct effects of violence and injury, repeated over years' children's developing bodies. When adult survivors fully describe their childhood abuse, the extent of violence involved becomes clear. For example, their accounts of oral abuse invite us to reconsider how 'psychogenic' conditions like paradoxical vocal cord dysfunction or temporomandibular disorders may have come about. This also raises the important issue of whether paradoxical vocal chord dysfunction should be reclassed as an abnormal and suspicious sign in children. The paper outlines several forms of research which may elucidate further the role of physical damage and injury in adult survivors' physical disorders, including prospective studies; retrospective studies in collaboration with sexual abuse survivors; and comparative studies of international literature on the long-term physical health effects of torture and child marriage.

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Medical problems of adults who were sexually abused in childhood.

Cited by 106 publications

References 15 publications

Relationship of Childhood Abuse to Psychiatric Distress, Social Adjustment, and Eating Disorder Severity in Japanese Bulimics

Relationship of Childhood Abuse to Psychiatric Distress, Social Adjustment, and Eating Disorder Severity in Japanese Bulimics

Childhood Abuse and Later Medical Disorders in Women

Physical symptoms in sexually abused women: somatization or undetected injury?

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