Child abuse and neglect; Self-reporting by adult patients presenting in a hospital for psychological problems.

Abstract

Objectives: To know the role of child abuse and neglect (CAN) in developing psychological problems during long after life Study Design: Observational study. Setting: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Govt. Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan. Period: August 2015 and February 2016. Material and Methods: Three hundred and forty (340) consecutive eligible adults complaining one of the psychological/psycho-medical problems viz. depression, anxiety, phobia, abdominal pain, or recurring diarrhea were registered using purposive sampling technique. The recruiters were asked to give responses against CAN-related questions in a locally designed Survey Form after recording the demographic information. Collected data was processed using techniques in SPSS version 17.0. Results: Of 340 cases, 297 (87.4%) were identified as psychological or psycho-medical patients. The problems appeared in 192 (90.6% of total 222) females, 221 (89.5%) rural residents, or 13 (92.9%) cases with socioeconomically poor family background at childhood. Similarly, a subject from nuclear family system was 9 times (95% CI: 5.818-14.476, p = .0001) more vulnerable to the problems than those of joint family system (92.3 vs. 29.6%). History of CAN was reported by 95.9% (n = 281) of diagnosed patients. Moreover, 85.6 to 100% victim of CAN by parents, family acquaintances or school teachers faced the mental health issues. Whereas, mental depression prevailed in CAN reporters. Conclusion: The CAN is a potential predictor for the psychological problems in life long after; hence deserves prompt practical considerations.