Journal article
A comparison of the psychological outcomes of self-reported and agency-notified child abuse in a population-based birth cohort at 30-year-follow-up
Journal of affective disorders, Vol.280(Pt A), pp.167-172
02/01/2021
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.017
PMID: 33212408
Abstract
•Self-reported child abuse is associated with adult psychiatric morbidity in retrospective studies•Data from prospectively notified reports to statutory agencies are limited and equivocal•We compared both types in terms of affective symptoms in adults•The association with adverse psychiatric outcomes varied by reporting source•Depression and PTSD showed the strongest association irrespective of source
Retrospective studies show a strong association between child abuse and subsequent psychiatric morbidity. Prospective studies are less common with conflicting data in young adults. We assessed the effect on psychological outcomes at 30-year follow-up of prospective agency notifications compared to retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment in the same birth cohort.
We used data on self-reported child abuse from 2425 young adults who completed the Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) at the 30-year follow-up of a prospective birth cohort study commenced in 1981. These were linked to notifications of maltreatment to child protection agencies. The outcomes were DSM-IV diagnoses from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Auto version (CIDI).
A quarter of the sample (n=600) self-reported maltreatment of any type, 326 (13.4%) rating this as severe. The most common maltreatment type was neglect (n=382), followed by emotional (n=225), sexual (n=198) and physical abuse (n=197). On adjusted analyses, there were differences between agency- and self-reported maltreatment in the psychological effects on 30-year-olds. In the case of depression, and especially post-traumatic disorder, there were significant associations irrespective of reporting sources. In the case of anxiety, there was a strong association with all forms of self-reported maltreatment. However, agency-reported cases were only significantly associated with emotional abuse in the previous 30-days.
The attrition rate from baseline to follow-up and the possibility of insufficient power to detect statistical significance in agency-reported cases
The association between child maltreatment and psychiatric symptoms may vary by diagnosis and reporting source. Each source possibly captures different populations.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- A comparison of the psychological outcomes of self-reported and agency-notified child abuse in a population-based birth cohort at 30-year-follow-up
- Creators
- Steve Kisely - School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba 4102, Queensland, AustraliaLane Strathearn - Department of Paediatrics, Developmental and Behavioral Paediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USARyan Mills - School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, AustraliaJake Moses Najman - School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba 4102, Queensland, Australia
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of affective disorders, Vol.280(Pt A), pp.167-172
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.017
- PMID
- 33212408
- NLM abbreviation
- J Affect Disord
- ISSN
- 0165-0327
- eISSN
- 1573-2517
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/01/2021
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9984070422202771
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