Direct and Indirect Links Between Childhood Maltreatment, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Women's Health

• Published in: Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 125 - 136
• Main Authors: Lang, Ariel J., Aarons, Gregory A., Gearity, James, Laffaye, Charlene, Satz, Leslie, Dresselhaus, Timothy R., Stein, Murray B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Heldref 01-01-2008; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; California; Child; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - classification; Child Abuse - psychology; Child maltreatment; childhood maltreatment; Crime Victims - psychology; Female; Health; health outcomes; Health Status; Humans; Life Change Events; Likelihood Functions; Likert scale; Medical sciences; Mental depression; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Models, Psychological; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Primary care; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Assessment; Self-Assessment; Sex crimes; Sex Offenses; Sexual abuse; sexual trauma; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Trauma; Veterans; Veterans - psychology; Victimology; Vietnam War; Women; Women's Health; Womens health; California; Human; Posttraumatic syndrome; Health; Anxiety disorder; childhood maltreatment; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Victimology; Stress; health outcomes; Child abuse; Female; Sexual abuse; Woman; sexual trauma
• ISSN: 0896-4289; 1940-4026
• DOI: 10.3200/BMED.33.4.125-136

The authors evaluated the relationships among childhood maltreatment, sexual trauma in adulthood, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and health functioning in women. Female Veterans' Affairs (VA) primary care patients (N = 200) completed self-report measures of childhood maltreatment, adult sexual trauma, PTSD symptoms, and current health functioning. The authors used structural equation modeling to test models of the relationship among these variables. Childhood nonsexual maltreatment and adult sexual assault were positively associated with PTSD. Childhood nonsexual maltreatment (β = -.20) and PTSD (β = -.75) were significantly associated with poorer physical and mental health functioning. Adult sexual assault negatively affected health functioning through its association with PTSD. Thus, poor health outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment in women may be conveyed through PTSD. These findings should strengthen efforts directed at identifying and treating PTSD in female victims of childhood maltreatment with the aim of preventing or attenuating poor health outcomes.