IF YOU FEEL, YOU HEAL –
July 11, 2022 – “The association between CPA [childhood physical abuse] and 2 mental health and 5 physical health conditions remained significant, even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors and other ACEs [adverse childhood experiences],” the authors explain. “Further research is needed to investigate potential pathways through which childhood physical abuse is linked to a wide range of later-life health problems.”
One of the study’s co-authors expressed hope that therapy may be a good way to alleviate some of the negative impacts of being abused as a child.
“Health professionals serving older adults need to be aware that it is never too late to refer people for counselling,” professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, who supervised the thesis, explained in a statement. “A promising intervention, cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT], has been tested and found effective at reducing post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive and anxiety symptoms among survivors of childhood abuse.”
It is unclear exactly how childhood physical abuse is able to so closely correspond to adult health problems.
