Associations between prospective and retrospective measures of child abuse and self-reported adult health at midlife

Abstract

Background: The long-term health effects of physical child abuse are well documented in self-report, retrospective studies. However, there have been few longitudinal, multimethod studies on physiological responses to stress and the onset of chronic disease, thereby slowing the advancement of prevention and intervention programs.

Objectives: This study used survey data from an extended longitudinal study to examine prospective and retrospective associations between measures of physical child abuse and adult health in the 40s.

Participants and setting: Data are from an ongoing longitudinal study of the correlates and consequences of child maltreatment that began in the 1970s with a sample of 457 children.

Methods: Bivariate correlations and multiple regression models with covariates were used to assess associations between measures of physical child abuse and outcomes of self-reported health in adulthood.

Results: Physical child abuse, measured retrospectively, was moderately related to reports of overall health, as well as a number of adult health problems and conditions, such as back and chest pain, hypertension, and certain forms of cancer. Associations were also observed for lifetime alcohol problems and past-year doctor and emergency room visits. Fewer associations between prospective parent self-report measures of physical child abuse and adult health were identified, although child welfare (official record) reports performed similarly to retrospective measures.

Conclusions: This study adds important information on the long-term health effects of child physical abuse, as well as measurement differences in the prediction of adult health outcomes. Conclusions drawn from prospective and retrospective studies of abuse are at best inconsistent, and possibly incompatible.

Keywords: Adult health; Child maltreatment; Measurement; Physical child abuse; Prospective; Retrospective.