Childhood embedded: childhood abuse and chronic physical health conditions over a 10-year period

Background Childhood abuse is linked to experiencing multiple chronic health problems in midlife adults. Research has seldom examined whether childhood abuse is associated with a greater number of chronic physical health issues over time. The current study was to examine the contributions of childhood abuse on the development of chronic health conditions over a 10-year period. Participants and setting Data were taken from the study of Midlife Development in the United States. Using three waves of data, 661 married adults were included in the analysis. Results Using hierarchical regression, we found that childhood abuse was uniquely associated with the development of a greater number of chronic physical health conditions over a 10-year period. Post-hoc analysis found that neither gender nor age moderated the associations. Conclusions Findings of the study indicate that childhood abuse was uniquely associated with a greater number of chronic physical health conditions over a 10-year period. These findings suggest that abuse in childhood may speed up biological aging and erode adult's health over time leaving adults vulnerable to chronic health conditions. Prevention efforts should assess adults for childhood abuse and the impact of childhood abuse on adult health over time may be preventable or more manageable.