Enuresis and encopresis: Association with child abuse and neglect

Several reports suggest a possible link between child abuse and enuresis or encopresis but concern small series of children and present therefore methodological biases. The objective of the present study was to clarify this issue by examining the relationships between child abuse and enuresis or encopresis in a large sample of children.

A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 428 children in social residential centers in France. Four types of child abuse were considered: sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect. The accuracy and reliability of the characterization of the type of abuse as well as that of the sphincter disorder was particularly high. In fact, all the cases benefited from both a social and a psychological investigation and from an observation in a residential center.

More than 60% of the children were victims of at least one type of abuse. Encopresis was reported in 15 children (3.5% [95% CI: 2.0%-5.7%]), mostly among boys (13 cases). Enuresis affected 54 of the 390 children aged five years or more (13.8% [95% CI: 10.6%-17.7%]). Most of the cases also appeared in boys (38 cases). Rates of encopresis were found to be seven-fold higher in both psychologically abused and neglect children compared to non-abused children (P=0.01). Concerning enuresis, a weaker but still significant association was found with sexual (OR= 3.3, P=0.025) and physical abuse (OR=2.3, P=0.035).

Our findings support the hypothesis that enuresis and encopresis are associated with specific types of child abuse.