INTRODUCTION Childhood maltreatment, a well-known risk factor for the development of substance abuse disorders, is associated with functional and structural abnormalities in the adult brain, particularly in the limbic system. However, almost no research has examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and brain function in individuals with drug abuse disorders. METHODS We conducte...

OBJECTIVES Childhood maltreatment is a robust risk factor for poor physical and mental health. Child welfare youths represent a high-risk group, given the greater likelihood of severe or multiple types of maltreatment. This study examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and self-compassion - a concept of positive acceptance of self. While not applied previously to a child welfar...

BACKGROUND Oxytocin (OT) is known to play a role in stress regulation. The association between childhood maltreatment history and neuropeptide OT concentration is inconsistent due to the varying degrees of severity of childhood maltreatment, among other contributing factors. Less severe forms of childhood maltreatment history might enhance OT concentrations as a response to coping with social s...

OBJECTIVE No published studies have examined childhood abuse and neglect in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). This study examined the prevalence and clinical correlates of abuse and neglect in individuals with this disorder. METHODS Seventy-five subjects (69.3% female, mean age=35.4+/-12.0) with DSM-IV BDD completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and were interviewed with other reliable and...

BACKGROUND Physical punishment of children is an important public health concern. Yet, few studies have examined how physical punishment is related to other types of child maltreatment and violence across the lifespan. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to examine if harsh physical punishment (i.e., being pushed, grabbed, shoved, hit, and/or slapped without causing marks, bruises...

Over the past 40 years, child maltreatment research has become a demanding, distinct and distinguished field of empirical inquiry. A relative latecomer to this area, child emotional maltreatment has lagged behind other forms of maltreatment in research funding, publishing, and practice (Behl, Conyngham, & May, 2003). Although research on child emotional maltreatment has grown steadily since its...

OBJECTIVE Previous studies demonstrated that a history of childhood trauma is linked to mental disorders in adulthood, particularly to depression. Adverse childhood experiences are also considered to contribute to the risk of hypochondriasis, but the results of previous studies have not been conclusive with respect to the strength and specificity of this association. Therefore, we compared the ...

Child abuse is a recognized public health and social problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), child abuse includes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect and negligent treatment and exploitation. Child maltreatment is a global problem with serious life-long consequences. In spite of recent national surveys in several low- and midd...

Despite consistent support for Hammen’s (1991, 1992) stress generation model of depression and support for the adverse effects of childhood emotional maltreatment on later functioning and vulnerability to depression, the relation between the two is unclear. Therefore, the primary aim of the current study of young adults was to examine whether changes in recent negative life events would mediate...

BACKGROUND Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with delinquency and the repeated crime. Specific types of childhood maltreatment have been found to have differential effects on recidivism in juvenile offenders, but studies of adult probationers have not been performed. This study investigated the relationship between having a history of childhood maltreatment and mental-health problem...