Child abuse, or childhood maltreatment, is a problem throughout the world and imposes life-long consequences on the individual.

The World Health Organization reports that childhood maltreatment occurs in 3 of 4 children, or 300 million children, between the ages of 3-4 years. Additionally, sexual abuse occurs in 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 13 boys between the 0-17 years if age.¹

The four types of childhood maltreatment include:²

Physical abuse – the use of physical force that can lead to physical injury, such as, kicking, pushing, hitting, or other means of physical force.
Sexual abuse – engaging in sexual activity with a child ranging from exposing a child to sexual activity of directly touching.
Emotional abuse – any verbal or behavior way a child’s self-worth is compromised, for example, threatening, calling names, or excluding.
Neglect – physical neglect includes not providing for a child’s basic needs such as food, clothing, medical attention, or secure housing, while emotional neglect includes not meeting a child's basic emotional needs.

Global estimates say that 22.6% of adults suffered physical abuse as a child, 36.3% experienced emotional abuse, and 16.3% experienced physical neglect. Although there are limited differences between boys and girls, girls have a higher lifetime prevalence of childhood sexual abuse with 18% for girls and 7.6% for boys.³

In the United States, legal definitions of childhood maltreatment differ by state, but the four types of childhood maltreatment are generally recognized. In 2017, nine out of every 1,000 children in the United States was documented by a state welfare agency as having substantiated childhood maltreatment.⁴ However, due to underreporting, it is estimated that 1 out of every 7 children in the United States experience some form of childhood maltreatment.²

Childhood maltreatment leads to long term consequences in adults. While the mechanisms by which childhood maltreatment leads to specific consequences have not been established, there are several common pathways in which childhood maltreatment can manifest itself in adulthood:⁵

Alteration of brain development due to trauma or ongoing stress
Attachment- related difficulties and disruption in forming and maintaining relationships
Long-term mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder
Long-term physical health problems
Learned behavioral patterns that propagate intergenerational trauma
Lack of consistent educational development due to chronic disruption

Although a significant amount of research focuses on specific types of childhood maltreatment and the subsequent correlational development of specific adult psychopathology, one third of the development of psychiatric disorders has been found to be attributed to childhood maltreatment.⁶

Here at Kimberly Keiser & Associates, in addition to individual counseling, we are leveraging group counseling and psychotherapy to improve treatment outcomes for our patients. In our next blog, we’ll discuss what this research means for therapy concerns and how group therapy can help.

If you’re interested in therapy services — including our group therapy options — contact us.

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References

1 World Health Organization. (2020). Data and statistics. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Fast Facts: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/fastfact.html

3 Abbasi, M. A., Saeidi, M., Khademi, G., & Hoseini, B. L. (2015). Child maltreatment in the world: A review article. International Journal of Pediatrics (Mashhad), 3(1.1), 353-365.

4 United States Department of Health and Human Services (2017). Childhood Maltreatment. https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/child-maltreatment

5 Meadows, P., Tunstill, J., George, A., Dhudwar, A., & Kurtz, Z. (2011). The costs and consequences of child maltreatment. National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

6 McLaughlin, K. A., Green, J. G., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). Childhood adversities and adult psychopathology in the national comorbidity survey replication (NCS-R) III: Associations with functional impairment related to DSM-IV disorders. Psychological Medicine, 40(5), 847-859. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291709991115