Child abuse and neglect linked to early death in adulthood

Children who experience sexual or physical abuse or are neglected are more likely to die prematurely as adults, according to a new study analysing data from the 1950s to the present by researchers at UCL and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in BMJ Open , found that adults who reported experiencing sexual abuse by the age of 16 had a 2.6 times higher risk of dying in middle age - that is, between 45 and 58 - than those who did not report sexual abuse. Adults who reported experiencing physical abuse by 16, meanwhile, had a 1.7 times higher risk of premature death, while those who experienced neglect - assessed using questionnaire responses gathered from parents and teachers of respondents during childhood - had a 1.4 times higher risk. The researchers also looked at the link between early-life socioeconomic disadvantage and early death. They found that those who were disadvantaged at birth (that is, those whose father's job was classed as unskilled manual labour) had a 1.9 times higher risk of premature mortality than other socioeconomic groups. The study was based on data from 9,310 people born in 1958 who are part of the 1958 National Child Development Study, a nationally representative birth cohort study. First author Dr Nina Rogers, who led the work while at UCL and is now at the University of Cambridge, said: "Our work shows the long-lasting consequences that specific types of child abuse and neglect can have.