Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Aug 1;81(8):782-788.
doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0804.

Burden of Mental Disorders and Suicide Attributable to Childhood Maltreatment

Lucinda Grummitt  1 , Jessie R Baldwin  2 , Johanna Lafoa'i  1 , Katherine M Keyes  3 , Emma L Barrett  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Burden of Mental Disorders and Suicide Attributable to Childhood Maltreatment

Lucinda Grummitt et al. JAMA Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Importance: The proportion of mental disorders and burden causally attributable to childhood maltreatment is unknown.

Objective: To determine the contribution of child maltreatment to mental health conditions in Australia, accounting for genetic and environmental confounding.

Design, setting, and participants: This meta-analysis involved an epidemiological assessment accounting for genetic and environmental confounding between maltreatment and mental health and 3 cross-sectional national surveys: the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) 2023, National Study of Mental Health and Well-being 2020-2022, and Australian Burden of Disease Study 2023. Causal estimates were derived on the association between childhood maltreatment and mental health conditions from a meta-analysis of quasi-experimental studies. This was combined with the prevalence of maltreatment from the ACMS to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF). The PAF was applied to the number and burden of mental health conditions in Australia, sourced from 2 population-based, nationally representative surveys of Australians aged 16 to 85 years, to generate the number and associated burden of mental disorders attributable to child maltreatment.

Exposure: Physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect prior to age 18 years.

Main outcomes and measures: Proportion and number of cases, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years of mental health conditions (anxiety, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, self-harm, and suicide attempt) attributable to childhood maltreatment.

Results: Meta-analytic estimates were generated from 34 studies and 54 646 participants and applied to prevalence estimates of childhood maltreatment generated from 8503 Australians. Childhood maltreatment accounted for a substantial proportion of mental health conditions, ranging from 21% (95% CI, 13%-28%) for depression to 41% (95% CI, 27%-54%) of suicide attempts. More than 1.8 million cases of depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders could be prevented if childhood maltreatment was eradicated. Maltreatment accounted for 66 143 years of life lost (95% CI, 43 313-87 314), primarily through suicide, and 184 636 disability-adjusted life-years (95% CI, 109 321-252 887).

Conclusions and relevance: This study provides the first estimates of the causal contribution of child maltreatment to mental health in Australia. Results highlight the urgency of preventing child maltreatment to reduce the population prevalence and burden of mental disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Association of Mental Health Outcome and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years (DALYs) With Proportion Attributable to Child Maltreatment
AUD indicates alcohol use disorder; DUD, drug use disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Vigo D, Thornicroft G, Atun R. Estimating the true global burden of mental illness. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;3(2):171-178. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00505-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Charlson FJ, Baxter AJ, Dua T, Degenhardt L, Whiteford HA, Vos T. Excess mortality from mental, neurological and substance use disorders in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2015;24(2):121-140. doi:10.1017/S2045796014000687 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics . Causes of death: 2021. Accessed April 4, 2024. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death
    1. Humphreys KL, LeMoult J, Wear JG, Piersiak HA, Lee A, Gotlib IH. Child maltreatment and depression: a meta-analysis of studies using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse Negl. 2020;102:104361. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104361 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Higgins DJ, Mathews B, Pacella R, et al. . The prevalence and nature of multi-type child maltreatment in Australia. Med J Aust. 2023;218(suppl 6):S19-S25. doi:10.5694/mja2.51868 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms