Association of Reports of Childhood Abuse and All-Cause Mortality Rates in Women (www.archpsyc.jamanetwork.com)

Another study about child abuse, early death and I feel motivated and scared as a mom wtih PTSD from childhood ACEs.

How about you?

I don't want to die early. I feel I've paid quite enough for my childhood and don't wish to pay some more. I don't want to worry. I also want to be healthy, know my risks and figure out what i can do to promote better health.

Here's some news from the "Conclusions and Relevance" portion of the JAMA Psychiatry Association of Reports of Childhood Abuse and All-Cause Mortality Rates in Women abstract: 

These results suggest that in addition to the established psychiatric consequences of abuse, women who report childhood abuse also remain vulnerable to premature mortality into adulthood. Thus, reported childhood abuse may have long-term ramifications for health and longevity in women.

Those of us at higher risk have to be vigilant about self-care, early screening and parenting. If I'm a strong parent for my daughter she will fewer health risks. If I practice excellent self-care how might I be more than a depressing statistic? What can I do, with education, to make for a healthier aging me?

Some more about the study.

Six thousand three hundred twenty-five participants completed the mail-in questionnaires in 1995 and 1996. Mortality data were then collected through October 2015.

It's a decent sized group being studied.

Questions probed 3 categories of childhood abuse: emotional, moderate physical, and severe physical abuse.

This is the first study that we are aware of to link self-reports of childhood abuse to mortality in adult women. Women who reported experiencing severe physical abuse, moderate physical abuse, or emotional abuse from a parent were at increased risk for all-cause mortality during the 20-year follow-up period, compared with women who did not report such experiences. These associations did not appear to be specific to any type of reported abuse, although an accumulation of more types of abuse was associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality in women. Furthermore, these findings could not be explained by childhood socioeconomic status, adult depression, or personality traits. There were no associations between reports of abuse and mortality in men.

It certainly validates the ACEs science and the role of early adversity as an early mortality risk. It confirms that greater categories (ACEs) have greater impact as well.

But why the big difference in impact based on gender? I'll have to go back to Childhood Disrupted to read more about the role of hormones during development and differences in men and women. The abstract itself offers some possibilities.

Here's one:

It is unclear why women might be more vulnerable to the effects of abuse than men. One biological explanation could be that characteristics that are differentially prevalent in women vs men (eg, excessive release of steroid hormones in response to stress²¹) and that are also linked to health outcomes may help explain sex differences in abuse-mortality relationships. Psychologically, it may also be that men and women have different coping strategies for dealing with adversities such as abuse and that men’s, on average, may be more protective for their long-term health.

 

I'm always ambivalent when I read studies likes this one. 

My hope is that facts and evidence and studies get people to focus more on what we can do now to heal and improve future health. So many adults with ACEs are told to just get over it or have experiences minimized. I like to think we are at that tipping point place and maybe we don't have to have these battles at all about IF there was impact from childhood adversity and can focus more on prevention and better treatments.

Because of the older age of our sample, if these reports are accurate, they suggest that mortality effects may be less likely to be a direct result of the abuse itself or suicide (more common in adolescents and young adults) and instead more likely owing to chronic diseases (the leading causes of death in midlife and older adults, http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/leadingcauses.html).

So what can we do if we have these risks and want full and healthy lives?

I'm totally taking my functional medicine anti-inflammatory supplement twice a day and sticking with the advice from my my nurse practitioner. That's for sure. That helps me feel like I'm protecting myself. 

I'm also going to be as present, attuned and attentive to my daughter as I can so she has a low ACEs childhood. 

I always remind myself that not only do my high ACEs put me at risk, but the lower her ACE score as a child, the healthier she will be as an adult. 

It motivates my mothering even as it sometimes startles me to read stats.

For me, I feel a mix of things when I read these studies. 

How do you all balance the facts, the research and the data with day-to-day worries?

Do these studies weigh you down or inspire you to take care of you and to make it so others carry less health risk into adulthood?

Do you find you're more motivated to parent as well as you can?