Child Abuse and Maltreatment/Neglect: Identification and Reporting

Chapter Four - The Consequences of Child Abuse

Chapter 1: Recognition of Child Abuse, Maltreatment, and Neglect

Chapter 2: Reporting Child Abuse and Maltreatment/Neglect

Chapter 3: The Abandoned Infant Protection Act

Chapter 4: The Consequences of Child Abuse
Introduction
Physical Health
Consequences
Psychological
Consequences
Behavioral
Consequences
Societal Consequences
The Consequences in
Statistical Form

References

Appendices

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Physical Health Consequences

The immediate physical effects of abuse or neglect can vary greatly; the effects may be relatively minor (bruises or cuts) or severe (broken bones, hemorrhage, or even death). In some cases the physical effects are temporary; however, the pain and suffering they cause a child should never be discounted. The long-term impact of child abuse and neglect on physical health is just beginning to be explored.

Below are some outcomes researchers have identified:

  • Shaken baby syndrome. The immediate effects of shaking a baby (a common form of child abuse in infants) can include vomiting, concussion, respiratory distress, seizures, and death. Long-term consequences can include blindness, learning disabilities, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or paralysis.

  • Impaired brain development. Child abuse and neglect have been shown, in some cases, to cause important regions of the brain to fail to form properly, resulting in impaired physical, mental, and emotional development. In other cases, the stress of chronic abuse causes a "hyperarousal" response by certain areas of the brain, which may result in hyperactivity, sleep disturbances, and anxiety, as well as increased vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and learning and memory difficulties.

  • Poor physical health. A study of 700 children who had been in foster care for 1 year found more than one-quarter of the children had some kind of recurring physical or mental health problem (National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being). A study of 9,500 HMO participants showed a relationship between various forms of household dysfunction (including childhood abuse) and long-term health problems such as sexually transmitted diseases, heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease.

  • Death

Continue on to Psychological Consequences