Relationship between infant malnutrition and childhood maltreatment in a Barbados lifespan cohort

Abstract

Childhood malnutrition and maltreatment (abuse, neglect) are both prevalent, particularly in resource-limited settings. Despite their known negative impact on child development, there is surprisingly little research documenting their interrelationships. To address this gap, we administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), a retrospective structured self-report of childhood abuse and neglect, in a Barbadian cohort of 77 adult survivors of infant malnutrition, limited to the first year of life, and 62 healthy controls from the same classrooms and neighborhoods (mean age ± SD = 43.8±2.3 years). This cohort has been followed since birth. Using factor analysis and comparison with archival data addressing similar constructs, we found evidence for reliability and validity of the CTQ-SF in this population. Linear regression analyses, with and without adjusting for childhood household standard of living at three childhood ages, revealed that a history of infant malnutrition was significantly associated with increased levels of self-reported physical neglect in childhood, and, to a somewhat lesser degree, emotional neglect. This study highlights the co-occurrence of infant malnutrition and self-reported maltreatment in childhood in Barbados, with potential public health implications.

Childhood malnutrition and maltreatment are linked with personality disorder symptoms in adulthood: Results from a Barbados lifespan cohort

“…The CTQ-SF has been shown to have measurement invariance across diverse populations—both in the US and other high-, middle-, and low-income countries (e.g., Bernstein et al, 2003; Grassi-Oliveira et al, 2014; Hernandez et al, 2013; Rieder and Elbert, 2013). We found evidence for reliability and validity of the CTQ-SF in this population in a previous study (Hock et al, 2017). …”

“…In addition, we have recently reported that Barbadian children who suffered from malnutrition in the first year of life were also more likely to report having experienced maltreatment in childhood, particularly physical and emotional neglect (Hock et al, 2017). Although many children worldwide are exposed to both malnutrition and maltreatment, the long-term consequences of these exposures have been for the most part studied separately.…”

Nutrition and Hospital Mortality, Morbidity and Health Outcomes

“…Globally childhood malnutrition continues to be a public health problem with alarming statistics in 2015, out of the 1.5 million children who died, nearly half (45%) of these deaths resulted from malnutrition or its correlates [21]. In the Latin America and the Caribbean, the rates are more concerning with infant mortality rate being 11 per 1000 live births in Barbados [22]. Furthermore, infants and children exposed earlier and more sustainably to poor states of nutrition have a greater probability of experiencing more severe and chronic health outcomes as a result.…”

“…Furthermore, infants and children exposed earlier and more sustainably to poor states of nutrition have a greater probability of experiencing more severe and chronic health outcomes as a result. In utero as well as cohort studies of the Latin Americas and the Caribbean and European societies suggest that foetus exposed to poor maternal nutrition, and children 0-6 months old exposed to poor nutritional profiles are more likely to be hospitalised, exhibit mental disorders such as personality and schizoid disorders and have chronic diseases including hypertension and diabetes [22,23]. Moreover, European evidence points to greater episodes of diarrhoea, vomiting, poor recovery, longer hospital stays and greater health care costs in admitted children with body mass indices less than two standard deviations in children compared to healthy controls [24].…”

Seeking Biomarkers of Early Childhood Malnutrition’s Long-term Effects

“…[16] Household standard of living, maternal depression, child maltreatment and other adverse conditions were also documented. [17,18] BNS has continued to actively study 56% of the original group of participants recruited in 1973-76, and 75% of eligible participants who still reside in Barbados have been in seven waves of data collection over 45-51 years. Currently 206 immediate descendants of the original cohort (now aged 6-30 years) are being studied.…”