Abstract
Background: Child maltreatment has been firmly established as a fundamental risk factor for adult health. However, its quantification poses many questions methodologically, psychologically, and culturally alike. We carried out the first nationally representative survey research in Hungary and in Central–Eastern Europe to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among adults. Methods: Data were collected by an opinion research company using a screening tool of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study. Results: 25% (n = 293) of adults reported any childhood adversity; 5% (n = 59) of them had four or more ACEs. The most prevalent forms of child maltreatment were emotional (5%, n = 59) and physical abuse (5%, n = 59), sexual abuse (1%, n = 12) being the least prevalent. The most frequent dysfunctional household condition was parental divorce or separation (13%, n = 153), followed by household substance abuse (11%, n = 129). Conclusions: Nationally representative surveys on ACEs found a range of overall prevalence of various forms of child maltreatment between 14.1 and 35.2% into which our results fall. Nevertheless, our survey most likely underestimates the prevalence of child maltreatment in Hungary, reflecting the impact of a host of factors influencing awareness. Survey research methods are appropriate to obtain nationally representative data on child maltreatment that not only contribute to designing interventions but can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of interventions to improve child and adult health in the long run.
Highlights
Exposure to various forms of adversity early in life has been shown to lead to an increased risk of a broad range of developmental difficulties, principally cognitive, emotional, and behavioral impairments during childhood that are mediated by compromised neurodevelopment affecting various parts of the brain [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Numerous studies have shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs, including forms of child maltreatment and household dysfunctions) are major risk factors for acute and chronic somatic and mental diseases such as anxiety or post-traumatic disorders mediated by risk behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide attempts, aggressive behaviors, risky sexual behaviors, and low mental resilience [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
The European Commission has already established the feasibility of using marketing research/opinion polling agencies in health research: two reports were published on various aspects of the mental health of the population of EU member states in 2006 and 2010 by contracting companies to carry out representative surveys with multistage probability sampling and face-to-face interviews [49,50]
Summary
Exposure to various forms of adversity early in life has been shown to lead to an increased risk of a broad range of developmental difficulties, principally cognitive, emotional, and behavioral impairments during childhood that are mediated by compromised neurodevelopment affecting various parts of the brain [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Numerous studies have shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs, including forms of child maltreatment and household dysfunctions) are major risk factors for acute and chronic somatic and mental diseases such as anxiety or post-traumatic disorders mediated by risk behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide attempts, aggressive behaviors, risky sexual behaviors, and low mental resilience [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. Results: 25% (n = 293) of adults reported any childhood adversity; 5% (n = 59) of them had four or more ACEs. The most prevalent forms of child maltreatment were emotional (5%, n = 59) and physical abuse (5%, n = 59), sexual abuse (1%, n = 12)
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