Long-term consequences of abuse

It is immediately important to protect children from physical, emotional, sexual abuse, and neglect. Unfortunately for the child, the damage does not end there. The long-term consequences can include being removed from their parents and placement in the foster care system along with a host of physical and psychological long-term problems. Follow up treatment and care are essential to reduce the severity of these consequences.

Certain factors can affect the outcomes of the abuse. These include:

• The child’s age and developmental status
• The type, frequency and severity of the maltreatment
• The relationship between the child and the perpetrator
• The degree to which the child experiences parental substance abuse, poverty and domestic violence (Rosen, Handley, Cicchetti, & Rogosch, 2018)

The Child Welfare Department offers several lists of consequences on their website - https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdf.

Here is a summary of some of their findings from the following investigations: Widom, Czaja, Bentley, & Johnson, 2012; Monnat & Chandler, 2015; Afifi et al., 2016.

Physical Health Consequences

• Diabetes
• Lung disease
• Malnutrition
• Vision problems
• Functional limitations (i.e., being limited in activities)
• Heart attack
• Arthritis
• Back problems
• High blood pressure
• Brain damage
• Migraine headaches
• Chronic bronchitis/emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Cancer
• Stroke
• Bowel disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome

Psychological Consequences

• Diminished executive functioning and cognitive skills
• Poor mental and emotional health
• Attachment and social difficulties
• Posttraumatic stress

Behavioral consequences

• Unhealthy sexual practices (Thompson et al., 2017)
• Juvenile delinquency with subsequent adult criminality (Herrenkohl, Jung, Lee, & Kim, 2017)
• Alcohol and other drug use (Choi, DiNitto, Marti, & Choi, 2017).
• Abuse and neglect of their own children (Yang, Font, Ketchum, & Kim, 2018)

Some of the consequences can be modified by other factors. For example, if a child is neglected by his or her parents, some of that neglect can be modified by other relatives, neighbors, and even teachers who show interest and are willing to spend time with the child.

Bronfenbrenner (1979) developed an ecological systems theory that has been used to show how different systems could impact an individual child. An individual child as the center of this system is impacted by many factors not just the immediate family. It becomes important to look at risk and protective factors from a variety of systems beyond the family. Oscar in the above case study escaped from his family because of the willingness of another family to take him in.

Individual Child Factors:

• Age (high risk with young children)
• Disability (physical, cognitive, emotional).
• Serious physical or mental illness
• Aggressive behavior
• Attention deficits

Parental Factors:

• Substance Use
• Criminal Behavior
• Mental/Physical Health Problems
• Family Conflict or Violence
• Teenage/Single/Young Parents
• Nonbiological Parents in the Home

 .

Social Environment Factors:

• Socioeconomic Disadvantage
• Parental Unemployment
• Lack of Social Support/Social Isolation
• Stressful Life Events

There are some factors that help protect a child from the impact of emotional abuse.

Individual Child Factors:

• Good Health
• Positive Peer Relationships
• Hobbies/Interests
• High Self Esteem

Parental Factors:

• Positive Parent-Child Relationship
• Extended Family Networks

The CDC also describes ways that can reduce the negative consequences of abuse. These include:

• Enlisting communities to promote stable, safe, and nurturing environments for children.
• Using data to inform programs and services for preventing child maltreatment.
• Implementing community efforts that support parenting programs and positive parenting behaviors. (HHS, CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 2014).  https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdf

Reference

Afifi, T. O., MacMillan, H. L., Boyle, M., Cheung, K., Taillieu, T., Turner, S., & Sareen, J. (2016). Child abuse and physical health in adulthood. Health Reports, 27, 10–18.

Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., Marti, C. N., & Choi, B. Y. (2017). Association of adverse childhood experiences with lifetime mental and substance use disorders among men and women aged 50+ years. International Psychogeriatrics, 29, 359–372.

Gonzalez, D., Bethencourt, M. A, McCall, J.D. & Doerr, C. (2022). Child Abuse and Neglect (Nursing). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan–. PMID: 33760448.

Herrenkohl, T. I., Jung, H., Lee, J. O., & Kim, M.-H. (2017). Effects of child maltreatment, cumulative victimization experiences, and proximal life stress on adult crime and antisocial behavior. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250506.pdf.

Monnat, S. M., & Chandler, R. F. (2015). Long-term physical health consequences of adverse childhood experiences. The Sociological Quarterly, 56, 723–752. doi: 10.1111/tsq.12107

Rosen, A. L., Handley, E. D., Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. C. (2018). The impact of patterns of trauma exposure among low income children with and without histories of childmaltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 80, 301–311. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.04.00

Thompson, R., Lewis, T., Neilson, E. C., English, D. J., Litrownik, A. J., Margolis, B. & Dubowitz, H. (2017). Child maltreatment and risky sexual behavior. Child Maltreatment, 22, 69–78.

Yang, M., Font, S. A., Ketchum, M., & Kim, Y. K. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of child abuse and neglect: Effects of maltreatment type and depressive symptoms. Children and Youth Services Review, 91, 364–371.

Young, J.C. & Widom, C.S. (2014). Long-term effects of child abuse and neglect on emotion processing in adulthood. Child Abuse Neglect. 38(8),1369-81.

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