Child Maltreatment and Physical Health in Emerging Adulthood: Relationships with Physical Activity and Health Risk Behaviors
Date
2019
Authors
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Publisher
University of Northern Colorado
Abstract
Child maltreatment is highly associated with physical health problems throughout
the lifespan (Schafer, Morton, & Ferraro, 2014; Springer, Sheridan, Kuo, & Carnes,
2007). Yet much is still unknown regarding the trajectory of health problems including
the onset of health risk indicators in emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood also
represents a unique timeframe with little demand for healthy behaviors. There is evidence
that child maltreatment increases the involvement in health-risk behaviors such as
substance use, risky sex, and binge eating (Downey, Gudmunson, Pang, & Lee, 2017;
Röhr et al., 2015). The primary purpose of the current study was to examine if emerging
adults who self-report higher levels of child maltreatment (CM) exhibit poorer physical
health outcomes. These health outcomes included heart rate, obesity level, blood
pressure, blood sugar, waist circumference, symptoms of illness, and perceived health.
The second aim of this research was to explore the role that Physical Activity (PA) and
health risk behaviors have in the trajectory of child maltreatment and poor adult health.
Emerging adults in college (N=100) completed a physical health assessment, selfreported measures of health, health risk behaviors, and child maltreatment, and wore an
accelerometer for 10 days to track PA. Results of this study revealed that child
maltreatment scores predicted higher resting heart rate and increased symptoms of illness.
Additionally, females with maltreatment history presented higher levels of obesity and
higher Metabolic Syndrome conditions than their peers. When examining moderators of
CTQ and health outcomes, PA moderated both resting heart rate and symptoms of illness
while binge eating behavior moderated symptoms of illness.
Results support the importance of learning more regarding the trajectory of child
maltreatment to chronic disease as health risk indicators are present in emerging adults.
Furthermore, results provide examples of health behaviors that may alter the effects of
child maltreatment on current health. These include sedentary behavior and binge eating
behavior exacerbating poor health symptoms, low intensity PA improving health
symptoms, and higher levels of overall PA protecting resting heart rate.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
child maltreatment, long term effects, adult health, research
Citation
Moore, S. M. (2019). Child Maltreatment and Physical Health in Emerging Adulthood: Relationships with Physical Activity and Health Risk Behaviors.