Child abuse and neglect in institutional settings, cumulative lifetime traumatization, and psychopathological long-term correlates in adult survivors: The Vienna Institutional Abuse Study

Abstract

Child maltreatment (CM) in foster care settings (i.e., institutional abuse, IA) is known to have negative effects on adult survivor's mental health. This study examines and compares the extent of CM (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect) and lifetime traumatization with regard to current adult mental health in a group of survivors of IA and a comparison group from the community. Participants in the foster care group (n = 220) were adult survivors of IA in Viennese foster care institutions, the comparison group (n = 234) consisted of persons from the Viennese population. The comparison group included persons who were exposed to CM within their families. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the International Trauma Questionnaire for ICD-11, and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and completed a structured clinical interview. Participants in the foster care group showed higher scores in all types of CM than the comparison group and 57.7% reported exposure to all types of CM. The foster care group had significantly higher prevalence rates in almost all mental disorders including personality disorders and suffered from higher symptom distress in all dimensional measures of psychopathology including depression, anxiety, somatization, dissociation, and the symptom dimensions of PTSD. In both groups, adult life events and some but not all forms of CM predicted PTSD and adult life events partly mediated the association of PTSD and CM. Explanations for the severe consequences of CM and IA are discussed.

Investigating the Association Between Parental Absence and Developmental Trauma Disorder Symptoms

“…Similarly, Lueger‐Schuster et al. () found that being in foster care was associated with poor education outcomes and mental disorders in children. In our study, the results did not suggest that these left‐behind children would develop DTD, but it was interesting to discover their tendency to exhibit DTD‐like symptoms.…”

“…Parental absence may be a chronic stressor for children whose parents have left, because it decreases positive relationships and causes gaps in communication with parents (Kwaka, Kim, & Yoonc, ) and emotional bonding and support, thus hindering their development in various ways (e.g., Lueger‐Schuster et al., ). Given that there are multiple causes of parental absence (e.g., divorce, parental mortality, migration, or out‐of‐wedlock birth), we specifically focused on parental absence via migration.…”

PROTOCOL: Evidence and gap map protocol: Institutional responses to child maltreatment

“…However, it is clear that child maltreatment taking place in these settings affects the lives of both victims, their families and their communities-at times for generations. Child maltreatment has a negative impact on the physical, mental, spiritual, educational and economic wellbeing of those experiencing and surviving it-both in the short term and in the form of long-term consequences that reduce the quality of life during adulthood (Lueger-Schuster et al, 2018). In recent years, child maltreatment occurring in institutional settings has received substantial attention both at the policy level, amongst practitioners and service agencies working with children in different capacities and roles, and as part of the public debate.…”

Attitudes of women in Cambodia towards child physical abuse

“…This can ultimately affect the child's long-term health-related quality of life and lead to problems such as depression, substance abuse, anxiety and suicidal behavior, increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and even cancer [9][10][11][12] . Adolescents who have been physically abused are more likely to show increased of externalizing problems and criminal offending 13,14 . In addition, adolescents and adults who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in their childhood are four times more likely to have suicidal ideation, than their peers who had not experienced such abuses 2 .…”

“…In addition, adolescents and adults who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in their childhood are four times more likely to have suicidal ideation, than their peers who had not experienced such abuses 2 . Furthermore, among adults who had been physically abused as children there is a higher degree of aggression compared with adults who had not been abused 13,14 . Physical punishment of children are very frequent in East Asia and the Pacific region including Cambodia 2 .…”