Alarming findings: New study reveals child abuse causes 40% of mental health conditions

Scientists expose the lifelong impact of childhood abuse and neglect.

A study focusing on child abuse in Australia has uncovered its alarming impact, estimating that it causes up to 40 per cent of common mental health conditions over a lifetime.

The mental health conditions examined were anxiety, depression, harmful use of alcohol and drugs, self-harm and suicide attempts. Child abuse is classified as physical, sexual and emotional abuse and emotional or physical neglect before the age of 18. Child abuse was found to account for 41% of suicide attempts in Australia, 35% of self-harm and 21% of suicides. percent for depression.

The analysis, published in JAMA Psychiatry is the first study to provide estimates of the proportion of mental health problems in Australia arising from child maltreatment. The researchers said the findings are a wake-up call for child abuse and neglect to be treated as a national public health priority.

Potential impact of eradicating child abuse

“The results are devastating and are an urgent call to invest in prevention, not just individual support for children and families, but also wider policies to reduce the stress experienced by families,” said Dr Lucinda Grummitt, of the University of Sydney Matilda Centre. , who led the study. “Investments to address child maltreatment have the potential to prevent millions of cases of mental disorders in Australia.”

The analysis also found that if child abuse was eradicated in Australia, more than 1.8 million cases of depression, anxiety and substance use disorders could be prevented. The study also found that eliminating child abuse in Australia would, by 2023, have prevented 66,143 years of life lost (death) and 118,493 years lived with disability, for a total of 184,636 healthy life years lost to health conditions mental

The researchers looked at data that included national surveys provided by the Australian Child Maltreatment Study 2023 (8500 participants), the Australian National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020-2022 (15,893 participants) and the Australian Burden Study of Disease 2023.

The study used analytical methods to investigate the link between childhood abuse and mental health, which isolated other influential factors such as genetics or social environments. This provides stronger evidence that child abuse causes some mental health conditions.

Global and national context

Mental health conditions are currently the leading cause of disease burden globally, affecting 13% of the world’s population. In Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death among young people.

Previous research (regardless of the University of Sydney study) found that more than half (53.8%) of Australians were abused during their childhood.

Dr Grummitt said there are effective interventions, such as programs to support abused children or parent education programmes, but the most sustainable solution to preventing child abuse is policy-driven prevention.

“Policies to ease the stress families experience, such as paid parental leave, affordable childcare, income support like Jobseeker and making sure parents have access to treatment and support for their own health could make a difference to Australian children.

“Addressing the social and economic conditions that give rise to child maltreatment can play an important role in preventing mental disorders nationally,” said Dr. Grummitt.

The researchers cite an example in the United States, where the introduction of state-paid parental leave policies and timely access to subsidized child care were strongly linked to reduced rates of child maltreatment.

Reference: “Burden of Mental Disorders and Suicide Attributable to Childhood Maltreatment” by Lucinda Grummitt, Jessie R. Baldwin, Johanna Lafoa’i, Katherine M. Keyes, and Emma L. Barrett, May 8, 2024, JAMA Psychiatry.
DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0804