Childhood Emotional Abuse and Risk for Hopelessness and Depressive Symptoms During Adolescence

• NCJ Number: 224734
• Journal: Journal of Emotional Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 281-298
• Author(s): Elizabeth A. Courtney; Monika Kushwaha; Jeffrey G. Johnson
• Date Published: September 2008
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated the association of emotional abuse with subsequent depressive symptoms and hopelessness among adolescent primary care patients.

Abstract

Findings from the study add to the growing body of research on the potentially detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment. The findings are consistent with previous studies indicating that childhood emotional abuse is associated with depression and hopelessness. The findings suggest that adolescents who report emotional abuse are more likely to experience hopelessness and depressive symptoms over time. This study presents the importance in identifying and examining the potential effects of childhood emotional maltreatment. Future child maltreatment research should further examine the independent associations of emotional abuse with hopelessness and depression and other mechanisms that may contribute to the development of depressive symptomology. Previous research has indicated that childhood maltreatment is an important risk factor for the development of depressive disorders. However, few longitudinal studies have investigated the association of emotional abuse with depressive symptoms. Measures of emotional maltreatment, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms were administered to a multisite sample of 92 adolescent primary-care patients with helplessness and depressive symptoms assessed 3 months later. Figures and references