Cited by 414Child Abuse and TraumaChild Welfare and AdoptionMilitary, Security, and Education Studies

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Objective and subjective experiences of child maltreatment and their relationships with psychopathology

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Danese, Andrea, Widom, Cathy Spatz·2020·Nature Human Behaviour

Abstract

Does psychopathology develop as a function of the objective or subjective experience of childhood maltreatment? To address this question, we studied a unique cohort of 1,196 children with both objective, court-documented evidence of maltreatment and subjective reports of their childhood maltreatment histories made once they reached adulthood, along with extensive psychiatric assessment. We found that, even for severe cases of childhood maltreatment identified through court records, risk of psychopathology linked to objective measures was minimal in the absence of subjective reports. In contrast, risk of psychopathology linked to subjective reports of childhood maltreatment was high, whether or not the reports were consistent with objective measures. These findings have important implications for how we study the mechanisms through which child maltreatment affects mental health and how we prevent or treat maltreatment-related psychopathology. Interventions for psychopathology associated with childhood maltreatment can benefit from deeper understanding of the subjective experience.

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Metadata

Authors
Danese, A., & Widom, C. S.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
Corresponding author
  • Danese, Andrea
  • Widom, Cathy Spatz
Venue
Nature Human Behaviour
Published
2020-05-18
Volume
4
Issue
8
Pages
811-818
ISSN
2397-3374 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3024217604
Cited by
414
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 50 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 72 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 18
FWCI
22.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Human Behaviour (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • RCUK | Medical Research Council (P005918)
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (MH49467, MH58386)
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD40774)
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (AG058683)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Child Welfare and Adoption
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Military, Security, and Education Studies
Keywords
child abuse, psychopathology, subjective experience, objective measures, court records, retrospective recall, childhood trauma, mental health
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Psychopathology, Case-Control Studies, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, Young Adult

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