Childhood Disability-Related Abuse: A Retrospective Proof-of-Concept Study

Although the phenomenon of disability-related abuse has been well-documented in adults with disabilities, the occurrence of disability-related abuse in childhood has not been studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish proof of concept for childhood disability-related abuse. Ameri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of interpersonal violence Vol. 36; no. 21-22; pp. 10029 - 10053
Main Authors:	Lund, Emily M., Corr, Catherine P., Kinavey, Erin, Mott, Kelli N., Chowdhury, Dalia, Hammond, Marilyn, Thomas, Katie B., Schultz, Jared C.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-11-2021 SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:	Adaptive technology Adults Assistive Technology Childhood Disability Educational Technology Handicapped assistance devices Sexual abuse Technology disabled abuse denial of care proof of concept disability neglect
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Although the phenomenon of disability-related abuse has been well-documented in adults with disabilities, the occurrence of disability-related abuse in childhood has not been studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish proof of concept for childhood disability-related abuse. American adults (n = 485) retrospectively report on physical, sexual, and disability-related abuse that they experienced before the age of 18. The sample consisted of 382 participants with no disability, 55 participants with an adult-onset disability, and 48 participants with a childhood-onset disability. Disability-related abuse was conceptualized as involving either (a) the denial of assistive technology or (b) the denial of care, permission, or assistance with an activity of self-care. Childhood denial of assistive technology was rare in all groups (1.3%-2.1%), but denial of care, assistance, or permission was significantly higher in the childhood-onset disability group (20.8%) than either the adult-onset (7.3%) or no-disability (6.5%) groups. The three groups did not significantly differ in the rates of reported childhood physical or sexual abuse. This study provides preliminary proof-of-concept evidence for childhood disability-related abuse, particularly denial of care.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0886-2605 1552-6518
DOI:	10.1177/0886260519879240