We're all in this together but we're all different -- effects of different types of abuse
May 5, 2012
This list was started to represent the interests of those who were abused as children, regardless of how they were abused or neglected. Past research has shown that different types of abuse tend to occur together -- if you're sexually abused, you're likely to be emotionally abused, too, for example. (Pears, Kim & Fisher, 2008) Some recent research has found that different combinations of abuse tend to produce different types of problems for people. Continuing the work of Pears, Kim and Fisher, Berzenski and Yates (2012) studied a large number undergraduate students who reported on childhood maltreatment and current adjustment. Results suggested that specific combinations of different types of abuse have different associations with different outcomes. Emotional abuse, alone or in combination with other types of abuse, was especially related to psychopathology (e.g., anxiety, depression), while a combination of physical and emotional abuse was most strongly associated with conduct-related problems (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior). These findings have significance for understanding and classifying experiences of maltreatment.