Child abuse can have a serious and long-lasting impact on its victims. Understanding the causes of abuse and what effects it can have on a child’s life are crucial steps toward preventing it. The Child Welfare Information Gateway points out that a combination of factors such as the child’s age, type and frequency of abuse, and the child’s relationship to the abuser all can play a role in whether there will be long-term consequences.
Untreated Mental Illness
People who have depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder or other mental illness can be quick to anger. Untreated mental illness also may lead to alcohol and drug use, and eventually child neglect and abuse. Problems with anger and rage sometimes escalate into domestic violence. Mental Health America notes that people with personality disorders are unable to cope with normal everyday stresses causing anxiety and problems with mood and perceptions. An abuser’s behavior can be unpredictable so that a child never knows what to expect, or what words or actions might trigger the abuse.
Inadequate Support Network
Parents who are raising children on their own without the support of family, friends or the community are often stressed by money problems or difficult relationships. Caring for a child who has a behavior problem, disability or other special needs can put a person under even more stress. In some cases, an adult may use fear as a way to control a child’s behavior. Other individuals who were victims of child neglect and abuse themselves may lack the skills needed for effective parenting, adding to an already stressful home environment.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Parents who are alcoholics or drug addicts often neglect and physically abuse their children. According to Prevent Child Abuse America, there are more than 1.2 million victims of child abuse each year. Reports estimate that at least 480,000 of those children are physically abused by a parent or other caretaker who has an alcohol or drug abuse problem. In cases of substance abuse, it may not take much on the part of a child to set the parent off. Alcohol and drugs lessen impulse control; therefore, adults under the influence may lash out at children when they are angry about the problems in their lives.
Behavioral Problems
A 2004 National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being suggests that while not all children who are neglected and abused will have behavioral problems, behavioral consequences seem more likely to occur among these children. Research indicates that abused and neglected children also are more likely than their peers to use drugs, be juvenile offenders, do poorly in school, and engage in sexual risk-taking as adolescents. Some of them may even victimize their own children as adults.
Depression
The results of a study published in the January 2007 issue of the “Archives of General Psychiatry” found that neglected and physically abused children are at increased risk of depression and other depressive orders during their lifetimes. Depression starts as early as childhood for some.
Damaged Self Esteem
Children who are abused frequently experience feelings of shame and humiliation. Many feel worthless and face low self-esteem. Statistics compiled by Prevent Child Abuse show that children of alcoholics are more likely than other children to have behavioral, psychological and emotional problems. Parents already preoccupied with alcohol and drugs may get caught in a cycle of abusing a child who misbehaves. Individuals who are abused as children may one day turn to alcohol or drugs as a way to deal with their unwanted emotions.
References
- HelpGuide.org: Child Abuse and Neglect
- Prevent Child Abuse: The Relationship Between Parental Alcohol or Other Drug Problems and Parental Abuse
- Child Welfare Information Gateway: Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect
- Archives of General Psychiatry: A Prospective Investigation of Major Depressive Disorder and Comorbidity in Abused and Neglected Children Grown Up
- Mental Health America: Personality Disorders
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