Mental Health News
A team of researchers at the Desert Research Institute, in the US, explored the long-term health risks of childhood traumas. The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
The Study
The researchers surveyed more than 16,000 people from the Reno area in Nevada as part of the Healthy Nevada Project. The participants answered questions about their social environments and experiences during their childhood and adolescent years. These included information about emotional, physical, or sexual mistreatment, parental neglect, and substance abuse in the household.
The survey data was then tallied with anonymized medical records to understand better what childhood trauma does to adults.
The Findings: How Childhood Traumas Impact Adulthood
The results revealed that nearly two-thirds of participants experienced a traumatic event in childhood. Women, people of African-American and Latinx descent, as well as white and colored low-income households reported a higher prevalence of childhood traumas.
Moreover, it was found that childhood traumas affect mental health, triggering serious mental health conditions in adulthood. These include mood and anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and substance addiction.
One of the lead researchers, Robert Read, elaborated: “The study provides insights into [the impact of childhood traumas] and how social determinants of health may influence adult health disorders.”
To Know More You May Refer To
Schlauch, K. A., Read, R. W., Koning, S. M., Neveux, I., & Grzymski, J. J. (2022). Using phenome-wide association studies and the SF-12 quality of life metric to identify profound consequences of adverse childhood experiences on adult mental and physical health in a Northern Nevadan population. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, 984366. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.984366