Peer-reviewed article
How Does Experience of Violence in Childhood Affect Work Outcomes? A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies
Clare Tanton, Jodie Pearlman, Katherine G. Merrill, Lígia Kiss, Agnes Kyamulabi et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined how childhood violence affects work outcomes later in life using longitudinal studies. The researchers found 46 reports from 27 cohorts, mostly from high-income countries, showing that children who experience violence face negative employment outcomes in adulthood. The evidence is strongest for child abuse, neglect, physical violence and bullying, but weaker for sexual violence and witnessing violence. The review identifies that educational factors may partly explain why violence leads to poor work outcomes, though more research is needed from low- and middle-income countries.
Key points
- Strong evidence from high-income countries that childhood violence is associated with negative work outcomes across multiple employment measures
- Strongest evidence for official reports of child abuse and neglect, physical violence, bullying, and composite violence measures
- Evidence is more mixed for sexual violence; less evidence for emotional violence, witnessing violence, and adolescent intimate partner violence
- Nine studies examined mediators, mostly educational factors, suggesting these may partially explain the link between violence and poor work outcomes
- Review identified major evidence gap: almost all cohorts were from high-income countries, with minimal data from low- and middle-income countries
Limitations
The review is limited to longitudinal studies and cannot establish causation definitively. The overwhelming focus on high-income country evidence means findings may not apply to low- and middle-income settings where violence patterns, work structures, and support systems differ substantially.
Abstract
Experiencing violence in childhood and adolescence is both common and long-lasting, and associated with poor short- and long-term health and economic outcomes. In the current study, we reviewed evidence from longitudinal studies on the association between violence in childhood and work outcomes to determine the direction and magnitude of the association, explore variations by violence type, identify evidence gaps, and describe the extent of research and findings on mediators. We systematically searched nine databases for longitudinal studies reporting on the association between violence in childhood and work outcomes, and conducted a narrative synthesis. We identified 46 reports of 27 cohorts, with all but one cohort from high-income countries. This review shows that there is strong evidence from high-income countries that violence in childhood is associated with a range of negative work outcomes. Evidence is strongest for official reports of child abuse and neglect, physical violence, bullying, and composite violence measures, but is more mixed for sexual violence. There is less evidence for emotional violence, witnessing violence, neglect, and adolescent intimate partner violence. Associations are similar for men and women. Nine reports conducted mediation analyses, mainly examining educational factors as mediators. Evidence suggests that educational factors may partially mediate the relationship between violence and negative work outcomes. Cognition, mental health, and noncognitive skills may also be mediators. There is a need for data from low- and middle-income countries, and further mediation analyses to help guide efforts to reduce negative consequences of violence.