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Childhood Maltreatment Associated with PTSD and Emotional Distress in Low-Income Adults: The Burden of Neglect

NCJ Number
225695
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 32 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 1089-1094
Author(s)
Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira; Lilian Milnitsky Stein
Date Published
December 2008
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study is a pioneer examination of the presence of different childhood abuse and neglect types in a low income clinical sample in Brazil.
Abstract
Results found that subjects with a history of neglect forms of maltreatment, especially childhood emotional neglect (CEN) seemed more vulnerable to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during adulthood. There was no significant difference between genders in the regression model. The vulnerability model for PTSD and emotional distress (ED) observed could be associated with the environmental aspects of the study sample, where social support offered is precarious, where the access to the public health system is difficult, and where social violence is frequent. This study investigated the association of childhood abuse and neglect history, PTSD and ED in low income adult outpatients from a public general hospital in the south of Brazil. Data were collected in a cross-sectional study in which 141 outpatients initially participated while waiting for previously scheduled appointments in a pediatric and gynecology service of a public general hospital following convenience sampling technique; the public health system is used mostly by the low social and economical status population. Tables and references