Childhood Abuse and Neglect and Self-Reported Symptoms of Psychopathology through Midlife

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Researchers have been examining the link between child abuse/neglect and child and adolescent psychopathology for over half a century and have consistently found that experiences of childhood neglect may have severe short- and long-term effects on psychopathology into adulthood (Briere & Ellio, 1994; Dubowitz & Bennett, 2007; Herrenkohl & Herrenkohl, 1979; Kempe et al., 1962; Parton, 1981). Much of this research has utilized retrospective assessments of abuse and neglect and cross-sectional data. Researchers have found that incidents of abuse and neglect that were officially documented may not be retrospectively reported in adulthood (Widom, 1998; Williams, 1995). Furthermore, work is needed to disentangle the effect of neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse on psychopathology in adulthood. The current study investigates whether child abuse and neglect predicts symptoms of psychopathology through middle adulthood using prospectively assessed, longitudinal data. On an exploratory basis, we examined which aspects of abuse and/or neglect (type, developmental timing, perpetrator) were uniquely associated with psychopathology in adulthood.
The sample included 140 participants (48% female, 69% white/non-Hispanic) from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA), an on-going longitudinal study that has followed the children of the original mothers from birth to age 39 years. Self-reported symptoms of psychopathology were measured four times in adulthood with the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003) at ages 23, 26, 32, and 39 years. Composite measures were created as each measure was significantly correlated over the 4 timepoints. For Total Psychopathology, the average correlation over the 4 time points was r = .63. Abuse and neglect were identified using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions and supplemented by a set of more specific coding guidelines that distinguished clear indicators of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical/cognitive neglect. Covariates included child biological sex, child ethnicity, maternal education in childhood, caregiver socioeconomic status, and psychopathology at age 16.
Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to address all research questions. Results for the primary research question (Table 1) indicated that childhood abuse and neglect robustly predicted symptoms of psychopathology in adulthood, controlling for covariates. Exploratory analyses focusing on specific parametrizations of abuse/neglect suggested that abuse perpetrated by maternal figures (rather than paternal or non-parental figures) were uniquely associated with higher levels of self-reported symptoms of psychopathology in adulthood (Table 2). There was no evidence that any subtype of abuse and/or neglect or abuse and/or neglect during any particular phase of development uniquely predicted symptoms of psychopathology after controlling for relevant covariates. However, it is important to note that in the current study, physical abuse (r = .22) and neglect (r = .13) were significantly correlated with psychopathology in adulthood, just not uniquely so. These results highlight the long-lasting significance of childhood abuse and neglect for reports of mental health in adulthood. Future research in this area might build on this work by exploring why and for whom abuse and/or neglect might impact psychopathology by examining potential mediators and moderators leveraging longitudinal data sets with large samples.

Authors

• Faith VanMeter, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
  Presenting Author

• Marissa Nivison, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michelle M Englund, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth A Carlson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Glenn I. Roisman, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author