Study Looks at Effects of Childhood Maltreatment 50 Years Later

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Does maltreatment in childhood translate to lower adult living standards? Authors of the study, “Child Maltreatment and Adult Living Standards at 50 Years,” in the January 2017 issue of Pediatrics, examined the adult socioeconomic status of 8,076 individuals born in 1958 to see how they have fared as adults, looking at markers such as absences due to long-term illness, unemployment, and financial insecurity.

They found that childhood maltreatment is associated with poor mid-adulthood socioeconomic outcomes, with a higher risk for those who experienced multiple types of maltreatment. This suggests that the impact of childhood maltreatment persists over decades. The study suggested that poorer reading and mathematics skills of neglected children may have hampered their ability to find work and progress in the job market.

The authors say their findings argue for support for programs for remedial inputs to cognitive skills and development of children who have been neglected. The authors conclude that their findings suggest that those who experienced childhood maltreatment grow up to experience socioeconomic disadvantage, which in turn may affect their health and that of the next generation.