Experiences of severe childhood maltreatment, depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse among adults in Finland
Date
2017
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Publisher
PLoS One
Abstract
Childhood maltreatment increases the risk of subsequent depression, anxiety and alcohol
abuse, but the rate of resilient victims is unknown. Here, we investigated the rate of victims
that do not suffer from clinical levels of these problems after severe maltreatment in a population-based
sample of 10980 adult participants. Compared to men, women reported more
severe emotional and sexual abuse, as well as more severe emotional neglect. For both
genders, severe emotional abuse (OR = 3.80 [2.22, 6.52]); severe physical abuse (OR =
3.97 [1.72, 9.16]); severe emotional neglect (OR = 3.36 [1.73, 6.54]); and severe physical
neglect (OR = 11.90 [2.66, 53.22]) were associated with depression and anxiety while only
severe physical abuse (OR = 3.40 [1.28, 9.03]) was associated with alcohol abuse. Looking
at men and women separately, severe emotional abuse (OR = 6.05 [1.62, 22.60] in men;
OR = 3.74 [2.06, 6.81] in women) and severe physical abuse (OR = 6.05 [1.62, 22.60] in
men; OR = 3.03 [0.99, 9.33] in women) were associated with clinical levels of depression
and anxiety. In addition, in women, severe sexual abuse (OR = 2.40 [1.10, 5.21]), emotional
neglect (OR = 4.78 [2.40, 9.56]), and severe physical neglect (OR = 9.86 [1.99, 48.93]) were
associated with clinical levels of depression and anxiety. Severe emotional abuse in men
(OR = 3.86 [0.96, 15.48]) and severe physical abuse in women (OR = 5.18 [1.48, 18.12])
were associated with alcohol abuse. Concerning resilience, the majority of severely maltreated
participants did not report clinically significant levels of depression or anxiety (72%),
or alcohol abuse (93%) in adulthood. Although the majority of severely abused or neglected
individuals did not show clinical levels of depression, anxiety or alcohol use, severe childhood
maltreatment increased the risk for showing clinical levels of psychopathology in
adulthood.
Description
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Keywords
child maltreatment, long term effects, substance abuse, depression, anxiety, International Resources, Finland
Citation
Rehan, W., Antfolk, J., Johansson, A., Jern, P., & Santtila, P. (2017). Experiences of severe childhood maltreatment, depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse among adults in Finland. PLoS ONE, 12(5), e0177252.