1 School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.
2 Department of Paediatrics, Logan Hospital, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2019 Mar;53(3):248-255. doi: 10.1177/0004867418768432. Epub 2018 Apr 26.
Previous research suggests that child maltreatment is associated with adverse outcomes, but the potential impact on cognitive and educational outcomes into adulthood has rarely been studied using a birth cohort design. The aim of this study is to investigate whether child maltreatment is associated with adverse outcomes in cognitive function, high school completion and employment by the age of 21.
Longitudinal birth cohort study commencing in the prenatal period, with mothers and infants followed up to age 21. Of the original birth cohort of 7223, 3778 (52.3%) young people participated at age 21. Child maltreatment was identified by linkage with prospectively collected data from the relevant government agency. Associations between child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) and the outcomes were adjusted for relevant sociodemographic and perinatal variables.
After full adjustment, young people who had been notified as cases of child maltreatment had reduced performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test by over a quarter of a standard deviation (coefficient = -2.85, p = 0.004). Maltreated young people also had three times the odds of failing to complete high school (odds ratio = 3.12, p < 0.001) and more than twice the odds of not being engaged in either study or employment at age 21 (odds ratio = 2.38, p < 0.001). Both abuse and neglect were similarly associated with adverse outcomes.
Child maltreatment, including both abuse and neglect, is associated with adverse cognitive, educational and employment outcomes in young adulthood. This adds further impetus to efforts to prevent child maltreatment and assist young people who have experienced it.
先前的研究表明，儿童虐待与不良后果有关，但很少有研究使用出生队列设计来研究其对成年后认知和教育结果的潜在影响。本研究旨在调查儿童虐待是否与认知功能、高中完成率和 21 岁时的就业率降低有关。
这是一项从产前开始的纵向出生队列研究，对母亲和婴儿进行随访至 21 岁。在最初的 7223 名出生队列中，有 3778 名（52.3%）年轻人在 21 岁时参与了研究。通过与相关政府机构前瞻性收集的数据进行链接，确定了儿童虐待（虐待和忽视）的情况。在调整了相关社会人口学和围产期变量后，分析了儿童虐待（虐待和忽视）与结局之间的关联。
在充分调整后，被通知为儿童虐待案件的年轻人在 Peabody 图片词汇测试中的表现下降了超过四分之一标准差（系数=-2.85，p=0.004）。受虐待的年轻人未能完成高中学业的可能性增加了三倍（优势比=3.12，p<0.001），21 岁时既不学习也不工作的可能性增加了一倍以上（优势比=2.38，p<0.001）。虐待和忽视都与不良结局有类似的关联。
儿童虐待，包括虐待和忽视，与年轻人成年后的不良认知、教育和就业结果有关。这进一步推动了预防儿童虐待和帮助受虐待的年轻人的努力。
