Childhood Maltreatment and College Drop-Out Rates

Abstract

This study, which followed 210 freshmen through 4 years of college, found that by their second semester in college, students who reported experiencing more than one form of childhood abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional) and those who were sexually assaulted but not otherwise maltreated were significantly less likely to be enrolled than nonvictims. By the end of their senior years, only 35% of multiple victims, 50% of those sexually abused only, and 60% of nonvictims were enrolled. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the 2nd week of the freshman year were significantly related to college attendance at the 4th year, with a significant interaction between PTSD and abuse history as they related to remaining in or dropping out of college. Unless researchers studying the impact of childhood trauma in college samples are examining first-semester freshmen, it is likely that the research is being conducted with only the healthiest of survivors, which could lead to inaccurate conclusions about the abuse population as a whole.