Emotional abuse and neglect: time to focus on prevention and mental health consequences.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kumari V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7589986 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Emotional abuse and neglect: time to focus on prevention and mental health consequences.
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science 20201101 5
Emotional abuse and emotional neglect are among the most prevalent of childhood maltreatment types and associated with a range of poor mental health outcomes. We need to move beyond correlational research and shift our focus to sophisticated multimodal studies to fully understand the psychobiological mechanisms underlying these associations and to intervention studies. ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundChild sexual abuse is considered a modifiable risk factor for mental disorders across the life course. However the long-term consequences of other forms of child maltreatment have not yet been systematically examined. The aim of this study was to summarise the evidence relating to the possible relationship between child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, and subsequent mental and physical health outcomes.Methods and findingsA systematic review was conducted using the Medline, EMBASE, and PsycINFO electronic databases up to 26 June 2012. Published cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies that examined non-sexual child maltreatment as a risk factor for loss of health were included. All meta-analyses were based on quality-effects models. Out of 285 articles assessed for eligibility, 124 studies satisfied the pre-determined inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. Statistically significant associations were observed between physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect and depressive disorders (physical abuse [odds ratio (OR) = 1.54; 95% CI 1.16-2.04], emotional abuse [OR = 3.06; 95% CI 2.43-3.85], and neglect [OR = 2.11; 95% CI 1.61-2.77]); drug use (physical abuse [OR = 1.92; 95% CI 1.67-2.20], emotional abuse [OR = 1.41; 95% CI 1.11-1.79], and neglect [OR = 1.36; 95% CI 1.21-1.54]); suicide attempts (physical abuse [OR = 3.40; 95% CI 2.17-5.32], emotional abuse [OR = 3.37; 95% CI 2.44-4.67], and neglect [OR = 1.95; 95% CI 1.13-3.37]); and sexually transmitted infections and risky sexual behaviour (physical abuse [OR = 1.78; 95% CI 1.50-2.10], emotional abuse [OR = 1.75; 95% CI 1.49-2.04], and neglect [OR = 1.57; 95% CI 1.39-1.78]). Evidence for causality was assessed using Bradford Hill criteria. While suggestive evidence exists for a relationship between maltreatment and chronic diseases and lifestyle risk factors, more research is required to confirm these relationships.ConclusionsThis overview of the evidence suggests a causal relationship between non-sexual child maltreatment and a range of mental disorders, drug use, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted infections, and risky sexual behaviour. All forms of child maltreatment should be considered important risks to health with a sizeable impact on major contributors to the burden of disease in all parts of the world. The awareness of the serious long-term consequences of child maltreatment should encourage better identification of those at risk and the development of effective interventions to protect children from violence.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Studies have examined the interaction of MAOA genotype with childhood maltreatment in relation to depressive symptomatology and alcohol abuse with conflicting findings. Both high- and low-activity allele combinations have been shown to be protective for maltreated children with direction of findings varying by study methodology and participants' sex. METHODS:Participants in a prospective cohort design study involving court-substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect and a matched comparison group were followed up into adulthood and interviewed (N = 802). Eighty-two percent consented to provide blood, 631 gave permission for DNA extraction and analyses, and 575 were included in the final sample. This sample included male, female, white, and nonwhite (primarily black) participants. Symptoms of dysthymia, major depression, and alcohol abuse were assessed using the National Institutes of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule-III-R. RESULTS:Significant three-way interactions, MAOA genotype by abuse by sex, predicted dysthymic symptoms. Low-activity MAOA genotype buffered against symptoms of dysthymia in physically abused and multiply-maltreated women. Significant three-way interactions, MAOA genotype by sexual abuse by race, predicted all outcomes. Low-activity MAOA genotype buffered against symptoms of dysthymia, major depressive disorder, and alcohol abuse for sexually abused white participants. The high-activity genotype was protective in the nonwhite sexually abused group. CONCLUSIONS:This prospective study provides evidence that MAOA interacts with child maltreatment to predict mental health outcomes. Reasons for sex differences and race findings are discussed.
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Project description:Experience of childhood maltreatment is a major factor affecting adult mental health. The purpose of this study was to understand the association of childhood psychological abuse and neglect with mental health in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was conducted from February 21 to March 12, 2020. The participants were 200 students at a university of physical education in Shaanxi Province, China. Participants completed the Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect Scale and the Mental Health Self-Report Questionnaire. Regarding childhood maltreatment experience, 52.5% of respondents screened positive for childhood psychological abuse, 55.8% for psychological neglect, and 43.6% for both. Moreover, 37.6% of participants screened positive for psychological health problems during the pandemic. Childhood psychological abuse and neglect were positively associated with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. A regression analysis revealed that the reproving dimension of psychological abuse was a risk factor for mental health problems in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Project description:Smaller groups of victims of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation - such as male victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), victims of elder abuse, victims of abuse by carers, victims of parent abuse, victims of human trafficking, girls and boys below 18 years engaging in sex work, victims of sexual exploitation by gangs or groups and victims of honour based violence (such as forced marriages and female genital mutilation) - are often in contact with the health care system without being identified as such and frequently do not receive appropriate treatment. To address this problem, two things need to happen: 1) that ALL groups of victims of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation are explicitly listed in policies and protocols, and 2) that both the similarities as well as the differences between the groups with regard to identification, support and referral - described in this article - are explained, so that health providers are appropriately supported in this important function.
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Project description:The present study examined whether emotional abuse and neglect differentially predicted decreases in emotional clarity, and whether emotional clarity, in turn, predicted increases in depressive symptoms. Participants included 204 early adolescents (52% African-American; 54% female; Mean age= 12.85 years) who completed four assessments with measures of depressive symptoms, emotional clarity, and emotional abuse and neglect. Hierarchical linear regressions indicated that emotional neglect significantly predicted decreases in emotional clarity, whereas emotional abuse did not. Further, mediational analyses revealed that decreases in emotional clarity mediated the relationship between emotional neglect and increases in depressive symptoms. The current study suggests that emotional neglect (more so than emotional abuse) may hinder an individual's ability to identify his or her own emotions, which may increase the risk of depressive symptoms during adolescence. These findings have significant implications for the development of intervention and prevention programs for depression.
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