Peer-reviewed article
The association between child maltreatment and health risk behaviours and conditions throughout life in the Australian Child Maltreatment Study
David M. Lawrence, Anna Hunt, Ben Mathews, Divna M. Haslam, Eva Malacova et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined the relationship between experiencing child maltreatment and later health problems in 8,503 Australian adults aged 16 and older. All five types of child maltreatment—emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and exposure to domestic violence—were linked to higher rates of smoking, heavy drinking, cannabis use, obesity, self-harm, and suicide attempts. The associations were strongest in young people aged 16–24, and experiencing multiple types of maltreatment led to worse outcomes than experiencing just one type.
Key points
- All five types of child maltreatment were associated with increased rates of health risk behaviours and conditions
- Sexual abuse and emotional abuse showed the highest odds of health risk behaviours and conditions
- Cannabis dependence, self-harm and suicide attempts were most strongly associated with child maltreatment
- The strongest associations were in the youngest age group (16-24-year-olds)
- Experiencing more than one type of child maltreatment was associated with higher rates than experiencing one type
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and cannot establish causation, only associations. It is based on retrospective self-report of childhood maltreatment, which may be subject to recall bias and under-reporting.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To estimate associations between all five types of child maltreatment (emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and exposure to domestic violence) and health risk behaviours and conditions. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Nationally representative survey of Australian residents aged 16 years and older conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviewing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Associations between child maltreatment and the following health risk behaviours and conditions: current smoker, binge drinking (at least weekly in past 12 months), cannabis dependence (according to the Cannabis Severity of Dependence Scale), obesity (based on body mass index), self-harm in past 12 months, and suicide attempt in past 12 months. RESULTS: A total of 8503 participants completed the survey. All five types of child maltreatment were associated with increased rates of all of the health risk behaviours and conditions that we considered. The strongest associations were in the youngest age group (16-24-year-olds). Sexual abuse and emotional abuse were associated with the highest odds of health risk behaviours and conditions. Cannabis dependence, self-harm and suicide attempts were most strongly associated with child maltreatment. Experiencing more than one type of child maltreatment was associated with higher rates of health risk behaviours and conditions than experiencing one type of child maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Child maltreatment is associated with substantially increased rates of health risk behaviours and conditions. Prevention and intervention efforts should be informed by trauma histories, and holistic psychosocial care should be incorporated into programs focusing on behaviour change.