University of Michigan School of Social Work, United States of America.
University of Michigan School of Social Work, United States of America.
Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Oct;120:105203. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105203. Epub 2021 Jul 16.
The long-term health effects of physical child abuse are well documented in self-report, retrospective studies. However, there have been few longitudinal, multimethod studies on physiological responses to stress and the onset of chronic disease, thereby slowing the advancement of prevention and intervention programs.
This study used survey data from an extended longitudinal study to examine prospective and retrospective associations between measures of physical child abuse and adult health in the 40s.
Data are from an ongoing longitudinal study of the correlates and consequences of child maltreatment that began in the 1970s with a sample of 457 children.
Bivariate correlations and multiple regression models with covariates were used to assess associations between measures of physical child abuse and outcomes of self-reported health in adulthood.
Physical child abuse, measured retrospectively, was moderately related to reports of overall health, as well as a number of adult health problems and conditions, such as back and chest pain, hypertension, and certain forms of cancer. Associations were also observed for lifetime alcohol problems and past-year doctor and emergency room visits. Fewer associations between prospective parent self-report measures of physical child abuse and adult health were identified, although child welfare (official record) reports performed similarly to retrospective measures.
This study adds important information on the long-term health effects of child physical abuse, as well as measurement differences in the prediction of adult health outcomes. Conclusions drawn from prospective and retrospective studies of abuse are at best inconsistent, and possibly incompatible.
身体虐待儿童对长期健康的影响在自我报告和回顾性研究中已有充分记录。然而，很少有关于应激的生理反应和慢性疾病发病的纵向、多方法研究，从而减缓了预防和干预计划的推进。
本研究使用一项扩展的纵向研究的调查数据，检验身体虐待儿童与 40 多岁时成人健康之间的前瞻性和回顾性关联。
数据来自一项正在进行的关于儿童虐待的相关性和后果的纵向研究，该研究始于 20 世纪 70 年代，样本为 457 名儿童。
采用双变量相关和多元回归模型进行协变量分析，评估身体虐待儿童的测量指标与成年后自我报告的健康状况之间的关联。
身体虐待儿童，以回顾性方式测量，与整体健康状况以及一些成年健康问题和状况（如背痛、胸痛、高血压和某些类型的癌症）有中度关联。与终身酗酒问题以及过去一年的医生和急诊就诊也存在关联。虽然儿童福利（官方记录）报告与回顾性测量的结果相似，但前瞻性父母自我报告的身体虐待儿童的测量指标与成人健康之间的关联较少。
本研究增加了关于儿童身体虐待对长期健康影响的重要信息，以及对成人健康结果预测的测量差异。从虐待的前瞻性和回顾性研究中得出的结论充其量是不一致的，甚至可能是不相容的。
