Abstract
BackgroundChildhood maltreatment (CM) is unfortunately widespread globally and has been linked with an increased risk of a variety of psychiatric disorders in adults, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These associations are well established in the literature for some maltreatment forms, such as sexual and physical abuse. However, the effects of emotional maltreatment are much less explored, even though this type figures among the most common forms of childhood maltreatment. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the impact of each type of childhood maltreatment, both individually and conjointly, on revictimization and PTSD symptom severity using a nonclinical college student sample.MethodsFive hundred and two graduate and undergraduate students participated in the study by completing questionnaires assessing lifetime traumatic experiences in general, maltreatment during childhood and PTSD symptoms. Bivariate and multivariate negative binomial regressions were applied to examine the associations among childhood maltreatment, revictimization, and PTSD symptom severity.ResultsOur results showed that using bivariate models, all types of CM were significantly associated with revictimization and PTSD symptom severity. Multivariate models showed that emotional abuse was the type of maltreatment associated with the highest incidence rates of revictimization and PTSD symptom severity.ConclusionsThese data provide additional evidence of the harmful effects of childhood maltreatment and its long-term consequences for individuals’ mental health. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of studying the impacts of emotional abuse, which seems to be a highly prevalent, understudied, and chronic form of maltreatment that is as toxic as other maltreatment forms.
Highlights
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is widespread globally and has been linked with an increased risk of a variety of psychiatric disorders in adults, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
All types of childhood maltreatment significantly predicted PTSD severity for a subsequent trauma. These results show that all forms of childhood maltreatment caused an increase in the average Posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) scores for another trauma occurring in adolescence/adulthood
This study aimed to investigate whether the presence of childhood maltreatment, especially emotional abuse maltreatment, could predict revictimization and PTSD severity symptoms for a subsequent traumatic event in adolescence and young adulthood
Summary
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is widespread globally and has been linked with an increased risk of a variety of psychiatric disorders in adults, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These associations are well established in the literature for some maltreatment forms, such as sexual and physical abuse. A worldwide meta-analysis estimated rates of 12.7% for sexual abuse, 16.3% for physical neglect, 18.4% for emotional neglect, 22.6% for physical abuse, and 36.3% for emotional abuse [3] These data indicate that childhood maltreatment is globally widespread, affecting the lives of millions of children. Exposure to childhood maltreatment has been associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders in adults, such as depression and anxiety disorders [4], bipolar disorder [5, 6], eating disorders [7], personality disorders [8] and trauma-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [9]
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