Clinical Characteristics of Women With a History of Childhood Abuse
JAMAPublished 7 May 1997
Jeanne McCauley
Citations902
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score5.35
SNIP10.71
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
Childhood physical or sexual abuse is associated with adult health problems including physical symptoms, psychological problems, and substance abuse; for many variables, this association is as strong as for patients experiencing current abuse.
Abstract
Childhood physical or sexual abuse is associated with adult health problems including physical symptoms, psychological problems, and substance abuse; for many variables, this association is as strong as for patients experiencing current abuse.
Keywords
PsychologySocial SciencesHealth Professions
Child Abuse & NeglectChild abuse: Adolescent records vs. adult recall
8,846 Citations1990Donna Della Femina, Catherine A. Yeager +1 more
In a follow-up study of incarcerated Connecticut youth, 69 subjects interviewed during young adulthood, 26 gave histories of abuse discrepant with histories obtained from records and interviews conducted in adolescence, finding reasons for these discrepant data are discussed.
Systems Research and Behavioral ScienceThe Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self-report symptom inventory
4,656 Citations1974Leonard R. Derogatis, Ronald S. Lipman +3 more
The historical evolution, development, rationale and validation of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist is described, a self-report symptom inventory comprised of 58 items which are representative of the symptom configurations commonly observed among outpatients.
Child Abuse & NeglectThe incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse of female children
1,049 Citations1983Diana E. H. Russell
Data obtained from a random sample of 930 adult women in San Francisco provide the soundest basis heretofore available for estimating the prevalence of intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse of female children.
JAMAAssessing for Abuse During Pregnancy
1,012 Citations1992Judith McFarlane
A simple clinical assessment screen completed by the health care provider in a private setting and with the male partner absent is as effective as research instruments in identifying abused women.
Annals of Internal MedicineSexual and Physical Abuse in Women with Functional or Organic Gastrointestinal Disorders
901 Citations1990Douglas A. Drossman, Jane Leserman +5 more
It is found that a history of sexual and physical abuse is a frequent, yet hidden, experience in women seen in referral-based gastroenterology practice and is particularly common in those with functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Oxford University Press eBooksResearch Methods in Occupational Epidemiology
885 Citations2004Harvey Checkoway, Neil Pearce +1 more
This work characterizing the workplace environment and special applications of occupational epidemiology and its applications are illustrated.
American Journal of PsychiatryDissociative symptoms in relation to childhood physical and sexual abuse
841 Citations1990James A. Chu, Diana L. Dill
Subjects with a history of childhood abuse reported higher levels of dissociative symptoms than those who did not, and patients with histories of abuse had scores at or above the median score of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.
American Journal of PsychiatryChildhood sexual and physical abuse as factors in adult psychiatric illness
820 Citations1987Jeffrey B. Bryer, Bryce Nelson +2 more
The authors explore the usefulness of adult psychological symptoms, diagnoses, and prescribed medications as factors in the identification of patients who have histories of early sexual and physical abuse.
Annals of Internal MedicineThe “Battering Syndrome”: Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Domestic Violence in Primary Care Internal Medicine Practices
745 Citations1995Jeanne McCauley, David E. Kern +7 more
The prevalence of domestic violence among female patients presenting to four community-based, primary care, adult medicine practices that serve patients of diverse socioeconomic background was determined and demographic and clinical differences between currently abused patients and patients not currently being abused were identified.
Child Abuse & NeglectSymptomatology associated with childhood sexual victimization in a nonclinical adult sample
623 Citations1988John Briere, Marsha Runtz
Examination of the incidence and long-term effects of sexual abuse in a nonclinical sample of adult women found abuse-related symptomatology was positively associated with the age of the abuser, the total number of abusers, use of force during victimization, parental incest, completed intercourse, and extended duration of time.
American Journal of PsychiatryPsychiatric morbidity in adult inpatients with childhood histories of sexual and physical abuse
589 Citations1991George R. Brown, Bradley J. Anderson
The findings emphasize the need for greater attention to family dynamics, aggressive diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism within the family, and, especially, determination of patients' abuse histories, even if repeated questioning is necessary.
American Journal of PsychiatryChildhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder
577 Citations1990S Ogata, Kenneth R. Silk +4 more
A stepwise logistic regression revealed that derealization, diagnostic group, and chronic dysphoria were the best predictors of childhood sexual abuse in this group of patients.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical PsychologySexual assault and mental disorders in a community population.
560 Citations1988M. Audrey Burnam, Judith A. Stein +3 more
Those who were exposed to childhood sexual abuse were more likely than those assaulted in adulthood to report the development of a mental disorder, and Lifetime prevalences of affective disorder including major depressive and manic disorders and drug abuse or dependence as well as three anxiety disorders including phobia mania and obsessive-compulsive disorder were significantly higher among assaulted individuals.
Southern Medical JournalLong-term Medical Consequences of Incest, Rape, and Molestation
450 Citations1991Vincent J. Felitti
Questions about childhood sexual abuse must become part of the practitioner's review of systems in these difficult cases, if not routinely, it is clear that these remote events can underlie difficult chronic medical problems.
Child Abuse & NeglectThe combined effects of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during childhood: Long-term health consequences for women
447 Citations1993Tamerra P. Moeller, Gloria Bachmann +1 more
The greater the number of childhood abuses, the poorer one's adult health and the more likely one was to have experienced abuse as an adult, physical health appears to be adversely affected in women abused as children.
Annals of Internal MedicineSexual and Physical Abuse and Gastrointestinal Illness: Review and Recommendations
441 Citations1995Douglas A. Drossman, Nicholas J. Talley +3 more
Existing data on the relation between abuse history and gastrointestinal illness is reviewed to discuss possible reasons for this association and to offer suggestions for identifying patients at risk and sensitively eliciting a history.
American Journal of PsychiatryRelationship of chronic pelvic pain to psychiatric diagnoses and childhood sexual abuse
408 Citations1988Elizabeth G. Walker, Wayne Katon +4 more
The patients with chronic pelvic pain showed a significantly higher prevalence of major depression, substance abuse, adult sexual dysfunction, somatization, and history of childhood and adult sexual abuse than the comparison group.
Journal of Social Work & Human SexualitySexual Abuse in Childhood:
375 Citations1986Christopher Bagley, Richard Ramsay
A study of the prevalence of serious sexual assualt in childhood (up to age 16) is reported in the context of a community mental health study in a random sample of 377 women in a large Canadian city.
GastroenterologyGastrointestinal tract symptoms and self-reported abuse: A population-based study
357 Citations1994Nicholas J. Talley, Sara L. Fett +2 more
Self-reported abuse is common in middle-aged subjects; those who report abuse are more likely to have symptoms consistent with IBS, dyspepsia, or heartburn and to visit a physician for bowel symptoms.
Annals of Internal MedicineScreening for Alcohol Abuse Using CAGE Scores and Likelihood Ratios
352 Citations1991David G. Buchsbaum, Robin Buchanan +3 more
Clinicians can improve their ability to estimate a patient's risk for an alcohol abuse or dependence disorder using likelihood ratios for CAGE scores, as well as assess the performance of the CAGE questionnaire.
Journal of the American Academy of Child PsychiatryFactors Associated with a History of Childhood Sexual Experience in a Nonclinical Female Population
319 Citations1984Mary Anne Sedney, Barbara Brooks
A nonclinical population of college women was surveyed concerning their history of childhood sexual experience, current symptoms, and demographic background, and women whose experiences occurred within the family were at greater risk for disturbance than womenwhose experiences occurred outside the family.
Digestive Diseases and SciencesIrritable bowel-type symptoms in HMO examinees
282 Citations1993George F. Longstreth, Girma Wolde-Tsadik
More severe irritable bowel-type symptoms were especially associated with nongastrointestinal symptoms, stress effects, sexual abuse, use of sedatives and oral narcotics, and a past alcohol problem.
Mayo Clinic ProceedingsHealth Risk Behaviors and Medical Sequelae of Childhood Sexual Abuse
268 Citations1992FERN E. SPRINGS, William N. Friedrich
To identify and assist victims of sexual abuse, physicians should become experienced with nonthreatening methods of eliciting such information when the medical history is obtained.
PubMedCorporal punishment of adolescents by parents: a risk factor in the epidemiology of depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, child abuse, and wife beating.
259 Citations1994Murray A. Straus, Glenda Kaufman Kantor
The analysis found that children who experienced corporal punishment in adolescence had an increased risk later in life of depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, alcohol abuse, physical abuse of children, and wife beating.
The American Journal of MedicineAltered pain perception and psychosocial features among women with gastrointestinal disorders and history of abuse: A preliminary model
231 Citations1994Isabel C. Scarinci, Julie McDonald-Haile +2 more
These data suggest that the relationships between abuse, disability, multiple pain syndromes, and health care seeking behavior are mediated by abnormal pain perception, psychiatric disorders, disruption of physical function, and environmental stressors.
Child Abuse & NeglectIssues in the definition of child sexual abuse in prevalence research
225 Citations1986Gail E. Wyatt, Stefanie Peters
Differences in the definitions used for child sexual abuse are described, similarities and dissimilarities are identified and the use of different criteria for incidents occurring during adolescence is identified.
American Journal of PsychiatryPsychiatric correlates of incest in childhood
225 Citations1992Elizabeth F. Pribor, S H Dinwiddie
There was an association between incest and psychiatric disorders in this community-based treatment population and more severe types of incestuous abuse were associated with a higher risk for the development of psychiatric disorders.
International Journal of Gynecology & ObstetricsHistory of physical and sexual abuse in women with chronic pelvic pain
222 Citations1991Rapkin Aj, L D Kames +3 more
It is suggested that pelvic pain is unlikely to be specifically and psychodynamically related to sexual abuse but that the pernicious nature of abuse, whether physical or sexual, may promote the chronicity of painful conditions.
The LancetComparison of CAGE questionnaire and computer-assisted laboratory profiles in screening for covert alcoholism
204 Citations1990Thomas P. Beresford, F. C. Blow +3 more
Until the sensitivities, specificities, and positive predictive powers of computer-assisted methods improve, brief interview alone remains the best screening method for general hospital populations.
Psychosomatic MedicineMedical and psychiatric symptoms in women with childhood sexual abuse.
196 Citations1992Elizabeth A. Walker, Wayne Katon +6 more
Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that number of somatization symptoms, lifetime panic disorder and drug dependence were predictive of a prior history of severe childhood sexual abuse, and Clinicians should inquire about childhood sexual and physical abuse experiences in patients with multiple medical and psychiatric symptoms, particularly patients with chronic pelvic pain.
Child Abuse & NeglectPosttraumatic stress disorder in a clinical sample of adults sexually abused as children
190 Citations1994Anderson B. Rowan, David W. Foy +2 more
This study utilized standardized measures of PTSD and found a significant incidence of PTSD among adult CSA survivors and significant correlations were found between several overall exposure measures and PTSD diagnostic status and the intensity of PTSD symptomatology.
American Journal of EpidemiologyTHE PREVALENCE OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT
175 Citations1987Judith M. Siegel, Susan B. Sorenson +3 more
Data from a subsample of assaulted respondents show that childhood sexual assaults are not usually accomplished through physical aggression, but rather through persuasion, and through the psychological threat of the assailant being bigger or stronger.
American Journal of PsychiatryBriquet's syndrome, dissociation, and abuse
174 Citations1993Elizabeth F. Pribor, Sean H. Yutzy +2 more
Briquet's syndrome, dissociation, and abuse are significantly associated and awareness of this association may have a significant effect on the treatment of psychiatric patients.
International Journal of Gynecology & ObstetricsThe association between chronic pelvic pain, psychiatric diagnoses, and childhood sexual abuse
168 Citations1989Jane Harrop-Griffiths, Wayne Katon +4 more
Patients with chronic pelvic pain showed significantly greater prevalence of lifetimemajor depression, current major depression, lifetime substance abuse, adult sexual dysfunction, and somatization and were also significantly more likely than controls to have been a victim of childhood and adult sexual abuse.
PubMedSelf-reported medical problems of adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
144 Citations1993Michael E. Lechner, Mark E. Vogel +3 more
At least one in four women are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, yet women rarely spontaneously reveal this history to a physician, yet they are more likely than nonabused patients to report multisystemic medical complaints.
International Journal of Gynecology & ObstetricsAbuse history and chronic pain in women: II. A multivariate analysis of abuse and psychological morbidity
143 Citations1995M K Walling, Mary O'Hara +4 more
The relation observed between childhood sexual abuse and the outcomes of depression, anxiety, and somatization in women may be a function of its association with other forms of abuse, particularly childhood physical abuse.
American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyCorrelation between sexual abuse and somatization in women with somatic and nonsomatic chronic pelvic pain
133 Citations1991Robert C. Reiter, Lisa R. Shakerin +2 more
The data suggest that the psychosocial profile of women with nonsomatic pelvic pain differs from that of Women with somatic pelvic pain and that previous sexual abuse is a significant predisposing risk for somatization and non-somatic chronic pelvic pain.
American Journal of PsychiatryHistories of childhood trauma in adult hypochondriacal patients
126 Citations1994Arthur J. Barsky, C Wool +2 more
Hypochondriacal adults recall more childhood trauma than do nonhypochondRIacal patients, even after sociodemographic differences are controlled for, and they also recall more Childhood illness, although they are not currently more medically sick.
Child Abuse & NeglectThe impact of child sexual abuse—A study of a random sample of Norwegian students
113 Citations1994Mons Bendixen, Karen M. Muus +1 more
Postpubertal onset of abuse and close relationship with the offender were positively associated with the number of sick-leave days and the severity of CSA was associated with a broad range of health problems.
Child Abuse & NeglectThe interpersonal and psychological functioning of women who experienced childhood physical abuse, incest, and parental alcoholism
92 Citations1994Kathleen M. Fox, Brenda O. Gilbert
Questionnaires assessing childhood physical abuse, childhood incest, and parental alcoholism were completed by 253 college women from introductory psychology classes at a large midwestern university and limited support was found for a specificity model of trauma.
Child Abuse & NeglectThe effect of differences in objective and subjective definitions of childhood physical abuse on estimates of its incidence and relationship to psychop
86 Citations1994Albert S. Carlin, Kathi J. Kemper +4 more
The proportion of women who experienced depression during their lifetime was highest among women who defined themselves as abused, intermediate among those who met objective criteria for having been physically abused, but did not define themselves as such, and lowest among thosewho did not meet objective criteria.
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol AbuseHigh Rates of Alcohol Use and History of Physical and Sexual Abuse among Women Outpatients
73 Citations1991Chester Swett, Caryn L. Cohen +3 more
When the first abuse occurred before the age of 18 years and there was no recent reported abuse, the association of abuse and high MAST scores persisted, suggesting that early physical or sexual abuse may be associated with current levels of alcohol use.
General Hospital PsychiatryAnxiety and depression in patients with the abdominal pelvic pain syndrome
54 Citations1989John C. Slocumb, Robert Kellner +2 more
The findings are consistent with the view that patients with the abdominal pelvic pain syndrome are psychologically a heterogeneous group; in many patients, depression and anxiety may be consequences of persistent pain.
Violence and VictimsThe Impact of Adolescent Sexual Victimization: Standardized Measures of Anxiety, Depression, and Behavioral Deviancy
54 Citations1989Christine A. Gidycz, Mary P. Koss
Because the sample was limited to girls who have remained involved in social systems, the measured symptoms probably are a conservative estimate of retrospectively measured postassault standardized test scores among sexually victimized adolescents.
PubMedThe prevalence rate of sexual trauma in a primary care clinic.
44 Citations1993Elizabeth A. Walker, Natalie Torkelson +2 more
Patients might benefit from routine physician inquiry into histories of childhood and adult sexual vicdmization, and physicians should be mindful of the long-term medical and psychological sequelae that frequently result from this trauma.
PubMedCaring for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Issues for family physicians.
11 Citations1994Miklosh Bala
The experience of the sexually abused child to long-term effects and the role of family physicians in screening and caring for survivors is outlined.