Abstract

The link between traumatic experiences in childhood and negative health consequences in adulthood is extremely well documented. Regrettably, despite the vast amount of research that has been conducted to prove the existence of this connection, the mainstream medical literature very seldom mentions it. In a recent review article on depression that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the author failed to make even a passing reference to the well-documented link between adult depression and childhood abuse. This highlights the necessity for research that is more visible and that will reach physicians, who provide the majority of front-line health care. No mention of the significance of childhood maltreatment as a risk factor is included in the otherwise exhaustive national recommendations on depression in primary care that were published in 1993. These guidelines were produced in 1993.

Keywords

• primary care,
• national recommendations,
• guidelines

References

• Allmänna barnhuset (2007). Våld mot barn 2006/2007. (Violence against children) (In Swedish). Stockholm: Stiftelsen Allmänna barnhuset.
• Anderson, I., & Lyons, A. (2004). The effect of victim’s social support on attributions of blame in female and male rape. Paper presented at the 51st BPS Social psychology Conference, Liverpool, UK, 03 September 2004.
• Anderson, K.L. (2010). Cultural self awareness matrix. Culturally Considerate Practice. St. Louis, MO: MabelMedia.
• Annerbäck, E. M., Lindell, C., Svedin, C. G., & Gustafsson, P. A. (2007). Severe child abuse: a study of cases reported to the police. Acta Paediatrica, 96, 1760–1764.
• Baker, C. D. (2002). Female survivors of sexual abuse: An integrated guide to treatment. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.
• Beeman, S.K., Hagemeister, A.K. & Edelson, J.L. (2001). Case assessment and service receipt in families experiencing both child maltreatment and women battering. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 437-458.
• Berger, L. M. (2005). Income, family characteristics, and physical violence toward children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 29, 107–133.
• Cash, S.J. & Wilke, D.J. (2003). An ecological model of maternal substance abuse and child neglect: Issues, analyses and recommendations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 73(4), 392-404.
• Children in India (2012) - A Statistical Appraisal. Ministry of statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India
• Cocozza, M., Gustafsson, P. A., & Sydsjö, G. (2007). Who suspects and reports child maltreatment to Social Services in Sweden? Is there a reliable mandatory reporting process? European Journal of social Work, 10,
• Cohen JA, (2007). A pilot randomized controlled trial of combined trauma-focused CBT and sertraline for childhood PTSD symptoms. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007 Jul; 46(7):
• Coohey, C. (2003). Defining and classifying supervisory neglect. Child Maltreatment, 8,
• Coohey, C. (2008). The nature of parental supervisory neglect. Child Welfare, 87 (4),
• Davies, M., & Rogers, P. (2004). Attributions towards victims and perpetrators in a child sexual abuse case: Roles of respondent, perpetrator, and victim gender. Forensic Update, 79,
• Davies, M., & Rogers, P. (2006). Perceptions of male victims in depicted sexual assaults: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11, 367-377.
• Davies, M., & Rogers, P. (2007). Perceptions of credibility and attributions of blame towards victims in a child sexual abuse case: The impact of victim age and perpetrator type. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse (in press).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.