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Madzoska M, Lawrence D, Higgins DJ, Haslam DM, Mathews B, Malacova E, Dunne MP, Erskine HE, Pacella R, Meinck F, Thomas HJ, Scott JG. Child Maltreatment, Mental Health Disorders, and Health Risk Behaviors in People With Diverse Gender Identities. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2024:8862605241270077. [PMID: 39152737 DOI: 10.1177/08862605241270077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
This study examined rates of mental health disorders and health risk behaviors in people with diverse gender identities and associations with five types of child maltreatment. We used data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), a nationally representative survey of Australian residents aged 16 years and more, which was designed to understand the experience of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence). Mental disorders-major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), alcohol use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and health risk behaviors-smoking, binge drinking, cannabis dependence, self-harm, and suicide attempt in the past 12 months were assessed. People with diverse gender identities who experienced child maltreatment were significantly more likely to have GAD (43.3%; 95% CI [30.3, 56.2]) than those who had experienced child maltreatment who were either cisgender men (13.8%; [12.0, 15.5]) or cisgender women (17.4%; [15.7, 19.2]). Similarly, higher prevalence was found for PTSD (21.3%; [11.1, 31.5]), self-harm (27.8%; [17.1, 38.5]) and suicide attempt (7.2%; [3.1, 11.3]) for people with diverse gender identities. Trauma-informed approaches, attuned to the high likelihood of any child maltreatment, and the co-occurrence of different kinds may benefit people with diverse gender identities experiencing GAD, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, or other health risk behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Divna M Haslam
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia
| | - Ben Mathews
- Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Eva Malacova
- QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Michael P Dunne
- Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Holly E Erskine
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- University of Greenwich, London, UK
| | | | - Franziska Meinck
- University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
- University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Hannah J Thomas
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia
- QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - James G Scott
- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia
- QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Children's Health Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Iverson IA, Cook NE, Iverson GL. Adverse childhood experiences are associated with perceived cognitive difficulties among high school students in the United States. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1293013. [PMID: 38375116 PMCID: PMC10875032 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1293013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health and cognitive problems, and mental health problems are associated with perceived cognitive difficulties among adolescents. The unique contribution of ACEs to cognitive difficulties after adjusting for poor mental health is not well understood and represents the purpose of this study. Methods The Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey was conducted in 2021 with high school students in the United States. Cognitive difficulty was assessed with: 'Because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, do you have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?' Four ACEs were examined: sexual violence (lifetime and past 12 months), parental emotional abuse, and parental physical abuse. Students were asked about feeling sad or hopeless (past year), considering suicide (past year), and having poor mental health (past month). Binary logistic regressions examined the association between ACEs and cognitive problems, adjusting for mental health. Results Participants were 6,945 students. Students reporting poor mental health were very likely to endorse difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions (girls = 81% and boys = 67%). Cognitive difficulty was uncommon among students who denied poor mental health (girls = 17% and boys = 12%). For boys [p < 0.001; R2 = 0.22] and girls [p < 0.001; R2 = 0.31], after adjusting for mental health problems, independent predictors of cognitive difficulties included parental verbal abuse and physical abuse. For girls, lifetime forced sexual intercourse and sexual violence during the past year were also independently associated. Conclusion ACEs are associated with perceived cognitive difficulty in both adolescent girls and boys, even after adjusting for poor mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ila A. Iverson
- Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nathan E. Cook
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Mass General for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Grant L. Iverson
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Mass General for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Charlestown, MA, United States
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