Darkscan

Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect

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Entrenchment: Children do not spontaneously grow out of harms from abuse or neglect. The memories and effects may shape their future permanently. Signs of this have the same acronym (WASTE) as for children, except now the losses are entrenched by damage (acronym WASTED).

Withdrawal:  Dropping out of school

Anger:          Crime and violence

Sadness:      Depression, anxiety or low self-esteem

Tragedy:       Suicide

Escape:        Substance abuse

Damage:      Brain damage; learning disorders or speech deficits; sexually transmitted diseases; drop-outs due to teenage pregnancy; unemployment; and health risks.

Long-term Severity Factors:

Timing:        Abuse that started early and/or lasted a long time.

Kinship:       Closeness to the victim (by blood relationship).

Severity:      As perceived by the child.

Coldness:    Emotional distance or cruelty of the family environment. If others tell the child that a parent is right to be this way, it is especially damaging.

Long-term Health Statistics:   from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Life Expectancy:    Six or more traumatic childhood events shorten it by ~20 years.

Risky Behaviors:    A child’s exposure to at least four categories of abuse or neglect yield: (1) 4X to 12X increase in health risks from alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempt; (2) 2X to 4X increase in smoking, poor self-related health, hyper-promiscuity, and sexually transmitted diseases; (3) 40% to 60% more physical inactivity and severe obesity; as well as (4) associated poor health in the heart, cancer, lungs, skeleton, and liver.

For more information, see:

Anonymous, “Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect” (April 2019) (Children’s Bureau, of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children & Families, of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). Federal research on personal and social effects, posted at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdf

Daniel Goldman, “Sad legacy of abuse: the search for remedies,” The New York Times (January 24, 1989, Section C, page 1) posted at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/24/science/sad-legacy-of-abuse-the-search-for-remedies.html

D.W. Brown, R.F. Anda, H. Tiemeyer, et al., “Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(5):389-396 (Nov. 2009).

V.J. Felitti, R.F. Anda, D. Nordenberg, et al., “Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14(4):245-58 (May 1998).