Kaplow Julie B, Widom Cathy Spatz
Department of Psychiatry, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, NJ, USA.
J Abnorm Psychol. 2007 Feb;116(1):176-87. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.116.1.176.
The authors tested the hypothesis that children who are maltreated earlier in life are at greater risk for poor psychological functioning in adulthood than those maltreated later in life. Age of onset of maltreatment was assessed with 3 classifications: (a) continuous (ages 0-11 years); (b) dichotomous (early [ages 0-5 years] vs. later [ages 6-11 years]); and (c) developmental (infancy [ages 0-2 years], preschool [ages 3-5 years], early school age [ages 6-8 years], and school age [ages 9-11 years]). Individuals with documented cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect prior to age 12 (N=496) were followed up and assessed in adulthood. Results indicated that an earlier onset of maltreatment, measured dichotomously and developmentally, predicted more symptoms of anxiety and depression in adulthood, while controlling for gender, race, current age, and other abuse reports. Later onset of maltreatment, measured continuously or developmentally, was predictive of more behavioral problems in adulthood. Implications for the assessment of maltreated children, the prevention of adult psychopathology, and the classification of age of maltreatment onset are discussed.
与童年后期遭受虐待的儿童相比，童年早期遭受虐待的儿童成年后出现心理功能不良的风险更高。虐待发生的年龄通过三种分类进行评估：(a) 连续型（0至11岁）；(b) 二分法（早期 [0至5岁] 与后期 [6至11岁]）；以及 (c) 发育阶段型（婴儿期 [0至2岁]、学龄前 [3至5岁]、小学早期 [6至8岁] 和学龄期 [9至11岁]）。对12岁之前有身体虐待、性虐待和忽视记录的个体（N = 496）进行了成年后的随访和评估。结果表明，在控制了性别、种族、当前年龄和其他虐待报告的情况下，以二分法和发育阶段型衡量，虐待发生的年龄越早，成年后焦虑和抑郁症状越多。以连续型或发育阶段型衡量，虐待发生的年龄越晚，成年后行为问题越多。本文还讨论了对受虐待儿童评估、成人精神病理学预防以及虐待发生年龄分类的意义。
