Battered children grown up: a follow-up study of individuals severely maltreated as children.

Despite intensive research interest, the field of child abuse has produced few long-term follow-up studies. This paper describes the adult functioning of a group of 19 individuals who were severely battered as young children. Results indicate highly variable outcomes for the group: Some individuals exhibited limited autonomy and few adult coping skills while others were raising families, holding jobs, and maintaining functional social ties. There was little evidence of overt aggression in the group but resentment and suspiciousness scores were high. Many subjects maintained ties with their troubled parents while others sought out birth parents after losing contact with them in childhood. Several had developed long-term stable marriages, and social supports appeared adequate for most subjects in the group. Overall, study findings indicate that early abusive trauma and adult functioning have no simple relationship.