Children Who Are Abused Suffer Psychological as well as Physical Effects
Childhood
abuse can lead to long lasting psychological effects as those who were abused reach adulthood. Recent studies show that childhood abuse may also strongly affect the physical health
of abused children as adults as well. A University of California – Los Angeles
Campus study is showing that adults who were abused as children are may suffer
from issues with their physical health and a compromised regulatory system. Children who dealt with abuse have grown up to suffer from such conditions as high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome as well as other physical health issues. One
of the research scientists from the study, Judith E. Carroll, says that if
children have more love from their parents or guardians, they will be more
protected from the affects of abuse and increased biological risk in the
future.
The
researchers in this study had approximately 756 participants who had also been
part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.
They measured 18 biological markers including heart rate, cholesterol,
waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar regulation, etc. Falling in
the higher range on these measures meant they had a higher biological risk for
disease. In order to measure their childhood problems and stressors, they were
given a self-report scale called the Risky Families Questionnaire. Those who
reported high amounts of parental warmth when younger had lower risk in
adulthood and on the other end, those who reported very low parental warmth and
affection rated the highest on the multisystem risk scale. The researchers
believe that the stress associated with childhood abuse may alter how a person responds to stress as an adult which makes it more difficult for the
physical and emotional arousal to be shut down. While the researchers in this
study do not say that childhood abuse causes high risk to physical illness as
an adult, they do believe that it plays a large role and should be studied
further so that early interventions will be encouraged.
By: Stephanie Lopez
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