Profiles of physical and psychological violence in childhood as a risk factor for poorer adult health: evidence from the 1995-2005 National Survey of Midlife in the United States.

OBJECTIVE This study examined linkages between physical and psychological violence in childhood from parents and three dimensions of adult health (self-rated health, functional limitations, chronic conditions). METHODS Regression models were estimated using data from the 1995 and 2005 waves of the National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. Responses to an adapted version of the Conflict Tactics Scales in 1995 were used to code respondents into one of nine profiles of violence distinguished by types and frequency of violence. RESULTS Reports of both frequent physical and frequent psychological violence were associated with poorer health at baseline across the three dimensions of health, as well as with more severe declines in health across all three dimensions over the 10-year study period. DISCUSSION Results suggest that having experienced frequent physical and psychological violence in childhood is a risk factor for poorer adult health status and declining trajectories of health throughout adulthood.