Frequency of Child Maltreatment in a Representative Sample of the German Population

Iffland, Benjamin; Brähler, Elmar; Neuner, Frank; Haüser, Winfried; Glaesmer, Heide

doi:10.1201/b18372-4

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Consistent with many other studies, our results found females to be at greater risk for sexual abuse of all types compared with males (Häuser et al, 2011; Iffland et al, 2013; Pereda et al, 2009; Sethi et al, 2013; Stoltenborgh et al, 2011). It must be noted, however, that a higher proportion of female victims does not hold true in all contexts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…So far, no studies have examined the co-occurrence of different types of maltreatment in institutions, but from research on abuse in general, it is known that such co-occurrence is the rule rather than the exception, and can be up to 95% (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Turner, 2007; Herrenkohl & Herrenkohl, 2009). In this study, the overall prevalence of co-occurring types of victimization (0.9%) was slightly lower than what has been reported by other studies using representative samples, which found from 3.3% for the co-occurrence of two different types of child maltreatment to 0.1% for the co-occurrence of five different types (Häuser et al, 2011; Iffland et al, 2013). This in part is due to the fact that in the present study, the assessment of sexual abuse as well as other forms of violence was limited to victimization within institutions.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

“…Global estimates of prevalence average around 12% (Stoltenborgh, van Ijzendoorn, Euser, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011), with studies consistently finding that girls are victims more often than boys (Finkelhor, 1994; Pereda, Guilera, Forns, & Gomez-Benito, 2009; Sethi et al, 2013). In Germany, 1.9% of the general population has reported having experienced severe sexual abuse in childhood (Häuser, Schmutzer, Brähler, & Glaesmer, 2011; Iffland, Brähler, Neuner, Häuser, & Glaesmer, 2013), and the 12-month prevalence rate for sexual violence in general has been reported by 1.2% of females and 0.6% of males (Allroggen et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Institutions: Results From a Representative Population-Based Sample in Germany

et al. 2018

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The lifetime prevalence of sexual abuse in institutional settings in Germany was examined in a sample representative of the general adult population ( N = 2,437). Participants completed a survey on whether they had ever experienced such abuse, its nature (contact, noncontact, forced sexual, intercourse), the type of institution (e.g. school, club), and the relationship of perpetrator to victim (peer, caregiver, staff member). Overall, 3.1% of adult respondents (women: 4.8%, men: 0.8%) reported having experienced some type of sexual abuse in institutions. Adult women reported higher rates of all types than did men, with rates of 3.9% versus 0.8% for contact sexual abuse, 1.2% versus 0.3% for noncontact sexual abuse, and 1.7% versus 0.2% for forced sexual intercourse. We conclude that a remarkable proportion of the general population experiences sexual abuse in institutions, underscoring the need for development of protective strategies. Especially, schools seem to represent good starting points for primary prevention strategies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Institutions: Results From a Representative Population-Based Sample in Germany

et al. 2018

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“…This 25item scale distinguishes between five types of childhood trauma: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect. The presence of moderate to severe early life stress was assumed if respondents scored at or above specific validated cut-offs on at least one of the five subscales (13).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered Experienced Thermoregulation in Depression—No Evidence for an Effect of Early Life Stress

2021

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Objectives: Accumulating evidence suggests that individuals with depression are characterised by difficulties in thermoregulatory cooling. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, whether depressed individuals are aware of these alterations, what their physical consequences are and whether they may be rooted in early life stress.Methods: A total of N = 672 medically healthy individuals from the general population were recruited to participate in an online survey. Participants were divided into depressed vs. non-depressed using the Patient Health Questionnaire. Experienced autonomic and behavioural thermoregulation as well as vigilance problems in response to temperature increases were assessed by the Experienced Temperature Sensitivity and Regulation Survey. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was administered to assess early life stress.Results: Controlling for age, sex, body mass index, and physical activity, depressed vs. non-depressed individuals did not differ in their experienced autonomic and behavioural responses to temperature increases. However, the depressed individuals reported comparably greater difficulties in concentrating and drowsiness/fatigue in warm environments (p = 0.029), during physical exertion (p = 0.029), and during stress (p < 0.001). There were no differences in the experienced thermoregulation between depressed individuals with vs. without early life stress.Conclusions: Depressed individuals experienced more severe physical impairments (i.e., greater vigilance problems) in response to intense warmth when compared to non-depressed individuals. These differences were not attributable to comorbid illnesses, the intake of medication, or physical deconditioning. Further enquiries in clinical populations are warranted to investigate to what extent the observed alterations map onto specific symptoms of depression (e.g., sleep disturbances).

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“…Even though the measure is quite simple, there is some evidence that the three items led to reliable results. Iffland et al (2013) used the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) by Bernstein et al (2003) in a large representative sample from the German population (N = 2500). The prevalence rates found in this study (emotional abuse: 10%; physical abuse: 12%; sexual abuse: 6%) are close to the rates of the present study (emotional abuse: 11%; physical abuse: 9%; sexual abuse: 10%).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of child maltreatment and gender for bipolar symptoms in young adults

Haussleiter

Neumann

Lorek

et al. 2020

Int J Bipolar Disord

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Background Child maltreatment has been shown to be associated with a wide range of mental disorders, including bipolar disorders. In this 2-year follow-up study, recollections of emotional, physical and sexual abuse were related to bipolar symptoms, namely depressive, hypomanic and manic symptoms. Methods The sample consists of 134 students who took part at five measurement times within the 2-year period. Data were collected with self-report scales. Results The results show that recollections of abuse, particularly emotional abuse, were associated with more severe depressive symptoms; this finding, however, only applied to women. Hypomanic and manic symptoms were not associated with recollections of abuse. For hypomanic symptoms, however, a significant decrease over the 2 years was observed. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that recollections of abusive experiences in childhood combined with female gender increase the risk for depression, whereas hypomanic and manic states are probably better predicted by other factors, such as current life circumstances.

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Frequency of Child Maltreatment in a Representative Sample of the German Population

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Institutions: Results From a Representative Population-Based Sample in Germany

The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Institutions: Results From a Representative Population-Based Sample in Germany

Altered Experienced Thermoregulation in Depression—No Evidence for an Effect of Early Life Stress

Role of child maltreatment and gender for bipolar symptoms in young adults

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