TY - JOUR
T1 - Child abuse and neglect in institutional settings, cumulative lifetime traumatization, and psychopathological long-term correlates in adult survivors: The Vienna Institutional Abuse Study
AU - Lueger-Schuster, Brigitte
AU - Knefel, Matthias
AU - Glück, Tobias
AU - Jagsch, Reinhold
AU - Kantor, Viktoria
AU - Weindl, Dina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - Child maltreatment (CM) in foster care settings (i.e., institutional abuse, IA) is known to have negative effects on adult survivor’s mental health. This study examines and compares the extent of CM (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect) and lifetime traumatization with regard to current adult mental health in a group of survivors of IA and a comparison group from the community. Participants in the foster care group (n = 220) were adult survivors of IA in Viennese foster care institutions, the comparison group (n = 234) consisted of persons from the Viennese population. The comparison group included persons who were exposed to CM within their families. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the International Trauma Questionnaire for ICD-11, and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and completed a structured clinical interview. Participants in the foster care group showed higher scores in all types of CM than the comparison group and 57.7% reported exposure to all types of CM. The foster care group had significantly higher prevalence rates in almost all mental disorders including personality disorders and suffered from higher symptom distress in all dimensional measures of psychopathology including depression, anxiety, somatization, dissociation, and the symptom dimensions of PTSD. In both groups, adult life events and some but not all forms of CM predicted PTSD and adult life events partly mediated the association of PTSD and CM. Explanations for the severe consequences of CM and IA are discussed.
AB - Child maltreatment (CM) in foster care settings (i.e., institutional abuse, IA) is known to have negative effects on adult survivor’s mental health. This study examines and compares the extent of CM (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect) and lifetime traumatization with regard to current adult mental health in a group of survivors of IA and a comparison group from the community. Participants in the foster care group (n = 220) were adult survivors of IA in Viennese foster care institutions, the comparison group (n = 234) consisted of persons from the Viennese population. The comparison group included persons who were exposed to CM within their families. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the International Trauma Questionnaire for ICD-11, and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and completed a structured clinical interview. Participants in the foster care group showed higher scores in all types of CM than the comparison group and 57.7% reported exposure to all types of CM. The foster care group had significantly higher prevalence rates in almost all mental disorders including personality disorders and suffered from higher symptom distress in all dimensional measures of psychopathology including depression, anxiety, somatization, dissociation, and the symptom dimensions of PTSD. In both groups, adult life events and some but not all forms of CM predicted PTSD and adult life events partly mediated the association of PTSD and CM. Explanations for the severe consequences of CM and IA are discussed.
KW - Adult survivors
KW - Childhood trauma
KW - Foster care
KW - IMPACT
KW - Institutional abuse
KW - MALTREATMENT
KW - MENTAL-HEALTH
KW - Mental health
KW - POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER
KW - PROFILES
KW - PTSD
KW - SAMPLE
KW - SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS
KW - SYMPTOMATOLOGY
KW - TRAUMA
KW - Trauma sequelae
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85038822691&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.12.009
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.12.009
M3 - Article
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 76
SP - 488
EP - 501
JO - Child Abuse & Neglect
JF - Child Abuse & Neglect
ER -