Child Abuse in Russia

Abstract

Child abuse has been rarely discussed in the Russian literature. Several booklets were published in the period 1990-2016 but today the topic is largely avoided. Physical abuse may be implicated in pathogenesis of various conditions including obsessive-compulsive, autism spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. Child abuse can have long-lasting consequences also for initially typical individuals. Children regularly punished for impulsivity, hyperactivity or hysteric behavior would modify it to avoid repeated trauma or to cope with it. The adaptive or maladaptive conduct may be obsessivecompulsive and/or compatible with autism spectrum disorder: impaired communication, abnormal eye contact, stereotypies. Some repetitive behaviors seen in autism can be described as obsessive/ compulsive. Among others, binge eating and alcohol drinking may be compulsive. In conditions of collectivism and social pressure to be "normal" like everybody, individuals with communication abnormalities have motives to contact with peers to avoid stigmatization as outsiders. Binge drinking is used by some adolescents to overcome communication barriers. Besides, loitering with drinking companies is a way of escape from domestic violence. In conclusion, child abuse can modify behavior and trajectories of some conditions giving rise to atypical conduct more or less compatible with autism spectrum or obsessive-compulsive disorders, sometimes predisposing to excessive alcohol consumption. physical abuse are associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [19]. It can be reasonably assumed that children regularly punished for impulsivity, hyperactivity or hysteric fits would modify their behavior to prevent repeating trauma or to cope with it. Repression of traumatic or shameful events as a defense mechanism, common in neuroses, is apparently involved in the pathogenesis.Physically abused children are known to exhibit repetitive compulsive behaviors e.g., occasional overeating. Both ASD and obsessive-