Child abuse risks: parent's addiction, unemployment and divorce

Adults whose parents struggled with addiction, unemployment and divorce are 10 times more likely to have been victims of childhood physical abuse, says a new study from the University of Toronto. More than one-third of adults who grew up in homes where all three risk factors were present reported they had been physically abused by someone close to them while under the age of 18 and still living at home, said researchers at U of T's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. The study, published online this week in the journal Child: Care, Health & Development , found that only 3.4 per cent of those with none of the three risk factors reported they had been physically abused. However, with each additional risk factor experienced, the prevalence of childhood physical abuse increased dramatically. Approximately 13 per cent of those with one risk factor reported childhood physical abuse. The prevalence of child physical abuse was between eight per cent and 11 per cent for those who had experienced parental divorce alone or parental unemployment alone but increased to between 18 per cent and 19 per cent for those who experienced parental addictions alone. Between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of those who had experienced two risk factors reported they had been abused in childhood.