Familial Abuse During Childhood and Later-Life Health: Exploring the Role of Victim-Perpetrator Relationships

Childhood abuse has been extensively studied in relation to later-life health, yet relatively little attention has been given to understanding the nuanced dynamics across victim-perpetrator relationships. This study addresses this gap by identifying typologies of familial perpetrators of childhood abuse in a national sample and examining their associations with various health outcomes, including physical and mental health as well as substance abuse.

We used 2 waves of data from the Midlife in the US Study (n = 6,295, mean age = 46.9 at baseline). The analysis was completed in 3 stages. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), we identified subpopulations of victims with distinct familial perpetrator histories. With assigned LCA memberships and propensity score weighting, we investigated the extent to which specific victim-perpetrator relationships are associated with health outcomes measured at baseline and a 10-year follow-up adjusting for other early-life risks. We evaluated whether the observed associations differ across the waves.

Parental and sibling abuse commonly co-occur, surpassing the occurrence of single perpetrators. Although minimal health disparities are evident between sibling-only abuse and no/little abuse groups at baseline, parent-only abuse is associated with compromised health outcomes. Severe abuse from both siblings and parents is linked to the most adverse health outcomes. At the follow-up survey, the associations between familiar abuse and health outcomes weakened, particularly for substance abuse.

This study, delving into family relationships, family violence, and health disparities, provides new evidence to augment our comprehension of the enduring link between childhood abuse and health within the family context.