Chennai: Nine in 10 college students surveyed in Chennai reported at least one difficult childhood experience, including physical or emotional abuse and neglect, a new study has found. Students with higher childhood-trauma scores reported more symptoms of depression, anxiety and unusual thoughts or perceptions.
The study included 1,000 students aged 18 to 24 from four private arts and science colleges in Chennai, which largely served lower- and middle-income students. Analysis found that 901 (90.1%) students reported at least one form of childhood adversity. Physical abuse was the most reported experience, cited by 87.4% of students, the study showed. Physical abuse is followed by emotional neglect, reported by 57.1% of students surveyed. Physical neglect was reported by 18.7%, emotional abuse by 17.7%, and sexual abuse by 1.2%. The paper was published online in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine by researchers from Chennai’s Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) along with the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, based on data collected between Dec 2017 and June 2018.
Because it measured past experiences and current symptoms at one point in time, it cannot prove that difficult childhood experiences caused later mental-health symptoms. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in Chennai Stay updated with the latest Chennai news.
Most people consider physical punishment to be an acceptable discipline rather than abuse, said the study’s first author, Pavithra Arunachaleeswaran. What we don’t realise is that this may affect how young people recognise and report childhood abuse,” Arunachaleeswaran said. After accounting for age and gender, the association remained significant for depression and psychotic-like experiences, they said. “They may be less visible than physical violence, but they can have a significant psychological impact,” said senior psychiatrist Dr Thara R, vice chairman of SCARF, who is the senior author of the study. The authors said the high reporting of physical abuse may partly reflect the way corporal punishment is still accepted as discipline in some homes and schools. Still, the authors said the findings show the need to identify childhood adversity early. They wrote that it is “crucial to incorporate trauma-informed assessment” in college mental-health programmes and primary-care services. “College mental-health programmes and primary-care services need to identify emotional abuse and neglect early and offer appropriate support,” said the study’s corresponding author, Vijaya Raghavan.
“In many settings, physical punishment is still framed as discipline. The rates were similar among male and female students. The researchers found that higher total childhood-trauma scores were linked to higher depression, anxiety, and psychotic-like experience scores. Emotional abuse had a separate link with both depression and anxiety. Physical neglect was linked with psychotic-like experiences — a term used for unusual thoughts or perceptions in people who do not necessarily have a psychiatric illness. Authors found that emotional abuse and physical neglect show distinct mental health associations, and childhood adversity, prevalent among young adults, is significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and psychotic-like experiences. Emotional abuse and neglect are often overlooked and may go unnoticed within families. They added that emotional abuse and neglect can be less visible and may go unnoticed within families. The low reporting of sexual abuse may reflect stigma, fear, and reluctance to disclose, rather than its absence. The study also found that different experiences were linked to different mental-health concerns: emotional abuse was linked to depression and anxiety, while physical neglect was linked to unusual thoughts or perceptions. The study has limitations. The findings were based on students’ self-reports and a convenience sample from four private colleges. They cannot be generalised to all young people in Chennai or Tamil Nadu. The authors recommended greater parental awareness, school-based mental-health initiatives and community programmes, and called for more research on prevention and support for young people. Download the TOI App.