Physical Abuse of Teenagers May Alter a Life Course
August 14, 2007
As a teenager, there were broken ribs and bruises at the hands of her father. She said that not a day went by without the back of his hand bouncing off her body. A team of scientists at North Shore-LIJ Health System became involved with identifying 100 teenagers like this young girl to attempt to understand the long term effects of physical abuse that occurs during adolescence.
At the time, a decade ago, the scientists interviewed 100 teenagers with a reported history of physical abuse and their families, and 100 other teenagers who were not abused. Recently, they wanted to see how these young people had shaped their adult lives and if the physical abuse when they were teenagers led to any obvious differences in the paths they chose.
Now, some of the findings are beginning to emerge. According to Sandra Kaplan, MD, Director of the Division of Trauma Psychiatry at North Shore University Hospital and The Zucker Hillside Hospital, the abused children grown up are not doing nearly as well as an equal number of children followed over that same period of time who had not been involved with Child Protective Services. While everyone’s story of physical abuse was different, the psychiatric researchers discovered that a greater percentage of the abused teenagers never finished high school, had more psychiatric problems and were not making their way easily into the grown-up world.
“Until now, not much was known about the impact of physical abuse on adolescents,” said Dr. Kaplan, who is still analyzing the results. Ten years after their first assessment of the physical abused teenagers, they were able to track down 67 of the 99 of them. They were also following 99 kids of the same age who had not been abused, and a decade later they interviewed 78 of these now grown young adults.
Dr. Kaplan, part of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, said that almost all of the teens in the original study had only one incident of documented physical abuse but may have had extensive histories of chronic, undocumented physical abuse and corporal punishment. The abused group had a much higher rate of psychiatric problems, including alcohol and drug abuse, and depression. While there was not a difference in the percentage of adults working – about 70 to 75 percent of the people in both groups had jobs – many of the people abused as children were not having the same financial success as those without an abuse history, Kaplan said.
Additionally, more than a third of those in the abuse group had their own children at the second testing period -- 33 percent compared to 10 percent of those who had not experienced physical abuse as a child. The biggest difference between the two groups emerged when the researchers looked at academic achievement. In the abuse group, 27 percent had dropped out of high school compared to one percent of the control kids. Nine percent of the abused kids never completed their own degree while the one teenager who didn’t finish high school in the non-abused group went on to get a GED and complete his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
As for their psychiatric histories, 77 percent of the abuse kids showed some problems compared to 44 percent of the non-abused kids. “These were not kids who were taken away from their parents because of the abuse,” Kaplan said. In fact, they were middle class teens growing up on Long Island. “But they still didn’t do well educationally,” Kaplan added. There was also a significant difference in the parental psychiatric histories that were obtained at the outset of the study. Forty percent of the families where abuse occurred had some history of psychiatric problems compared to 18 percent of the control families.
At the follow-up assessment, the people in the study were asked to complete a questionnaire called the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Since about 1/3 of physically abused children have been reported in the literature to physically abuse their own children, it is not surprising that a significant proportion of people in the abused group scored high on this measure, Kaplan said. A third of the women abused as teenagers had scores on the CAPI questionnaire indicating that they were at high risk for abusing their children. While it’s too early to know if the children of the abused group are being abused, they do seem to be at higher risk, the scientists said.
In that vain, members of the trauma psychiatry division have developed their own treatments to stem the tide of generational child abuse. They are now working with federal agencies to develop treatments for chronically traumatized adolescents. The strategy includes utilizing Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques to strength their coping skills. They are now testing out their therapies to make sure they deliver positive results to patients.
Suzanne Sunday, PhD, a research psychologist on Dr. Kaplan’s team and a member of The Feinstein Institute, is now analyzing the study data. Dr. Sunday said that in addition to those with problems in adulthood, there were also members of the abuse group who were very successful as adults, which means that they have some resilient traits that need identifying. The research team is now exploring these factors.
“Even mild abuse in a middle class sample with many opportunities for success can cause life-long problems,” Kaplan said. They are now trying to get funding to continue following these young people and to begin looking for biological changes in the blood and the brain between the two groups.
The group will be presenting a scientific symposium on trauma later this fall in Baltimore at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Some of these new research findings will also appear in October in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer’s, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, human genetics, leukemia, lymphoma, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. Part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, FIMR ranks in the top 6th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. Feinstein researchers are developing new drugs and drug targets, and producing results where science meets the patient. For more information, please visit www.FeinsteinInstitute.org.
Media Contact: Jamie Talan 516-562-1232
At the time, a decade ago, the scientists interviewed 100 teenagers with a reported history of physical abuse and their families, and 100 other teenagers who were not abused. Recently, they wanted to see how these young people had shaped their adult lives and if the physical abuse when they were teenagers led to any obvious differences in the paths they chose.
Now, some of the findings are beginning to emerge. According to Sandra Kaplan, MD, Director of the Division of Trauma Psychiatry at North Shore University Hospital and The Zucker Hillside Hospital, the abused children grown up are not doing nearly as well as an equal number of children followed over that same period of time who had not been involved with Child Protective Services. While everyone’s story of physical abuse was different, the psychiatric researchers discovered that a greater percentage of the abused teenagers never finished high school, had more psychiatric problems and were not making their way easily into the grown-up world.
“Until now, not much was known about the impact of physical abuse on adolescents,” said Dr. Kaplan, who is still analyzing the results. Ten years after their first assessment of the physical abused teenagers, they were able to track down 67 of the 99 of them. They were also following 99 kids of the same age who had not been abused, and a decade later they interviewed 78 of these now grown young adults.
Dr. Kaplan, part of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, said that almost all of the teens in the original study had only one incident of documented physical abuse but may have had extensive histories of chronic, undocumented physical abuse and corporal punishment. The abused group had a much higher rate of psychiatric problems, including alcohol and drug abuse, and depression. While there was not a difference in the percentage of adults working – about 70 to 75 percent of the people in both groups had jobs – many of the people abused as children were not having the same financial success as those without an abuse history, Kaplan said.
Additionally, more than a third of those in the abuse group had their own children at the second testing period -- 33 percent compared to 10 percent of those who had not experienced physical abuse as a child. The biggest difference between the two groups emerged when the researchers looked at academic achievement. In the abuse group, 27 percent had dropped out of high school compared to one percent of the control kids. Nine percent of the abused kids never completed their own degree while the one teenager who didn’t finish high school in the non-abused group went on to get a GED and complete his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
As for their psychiatric histories, 77 percent of the abuse kids showed some problems compared to 44 percent of the non-abused kids. “These were not kids who were taken away from their parents because of the abuse,” Kaplan said. In fact, they were middle class teens growing up on Long Island. “But they still didn’t do well educationally,” Kaplan added. There was also a significant difference in the parental psychiatric histories that were obtained at the outset of the study. Forty percent of the families where abuse occurred had some history of psychiatric problems compared to 18 percent of the control families.
At the follow-up assessment, the people in the study were asked to complete a questionnaire called the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Since about 1/3 of physically abused children have been reported in the literature to physically abuse their own children, it is not surprising that a significant proportion of people in the abused group scored high on this measure, Kaplan said. A third of the women abused as teenagers had scores on the CAPI questionnaire indicating that they were at high risk for abusing their children. While it’s too early to know if the children of the abused group are being abused, they do seem to be at higher risk, the scientists said.
In that vain, members of the trauma psychiatry division have developed their own treatments to stem the tide of generational child abuse. They are now working with federal agencies to develop treatments for chronically traumatized adolescents. The strategy includes utilizing Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques to strength their coping skills. They are now testing out their therapies to make sure they deliver positive results to patients.
Suzanne Sunday, PhD, a research psychologist on Dr. Kaplan’s team and a member of The Feinstein Institute, is now analyzing the study data. Dr. Sunday said that in addition to those with problems in adulthood, there were also members of the abuse group who were very successful as adults, which means that they have some resilient traits that need identifying. The research team is now exploring these factors.
“Even mild abuse in a middle class sample with many opportunities for success can cause life-long problems,” Kaplan said. They are now trying to get funding to continue following these young people and to begin looking for biological changes in the blood and the brain between the two groups.
The group will be presenting a scientific symposium on trauma later this fall in Baltimore at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Some of these new research findings will also appear in October in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer’s, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, human genetics, leukemia, lymphoma, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. Part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, FIMR ranks in the top 6th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. Feinstein researchers are developing new drugs and drug targets, and producing results where science meets the patient. For more information, please visit www.FeinsteinInstitute.org.
Media Contact: Jamie Talan 516-562-1232