FULL-TEXT ►

Relationship Between Abuse and Neglect in Childhood and Diabetes in Adulthood: Differential Effects By Sex, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

Relationship Between Abuse and Neglect in Childhood and Diabetes in Adulthood: Differential Effects By Sex, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 12 — May 7, 2015

Alexis E. Duncan, PhD, MPH; Wendy F. Auslander, PhD, LCSW; Kathleen K. Bucholz, PhD; Darrell L. Hudson, MPH, PhD; Richard I. Stein, PhD; Neil H. White, MD

Suggested citation for this article: Duncan AE, Auslander WF, Bucholz KK, Hudson DL, Stein RI, White NH. Relationship Between Abuse and Neglect in Childhood and Diabetes in Adulthood: Differential Effects By Sex, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Prev Chronic Dis 2015;12:140434. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140434.

PEER REVIEWED

On this Page

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• Author Information
• References
• Tables

Abstract

Introduction
Few studies have investigated links between child abuse and neglect and diabetes mellitus in nationally representative samples, and none have explored the role of obesity in the relationship. We sought to determine whether child abuse and neglect were associated with diabetes and if so, whether obesity mediated this relationship in a population-representative sample of young adults.

Methods
We used data from 14,493 participants aged 24 to 34 years from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to study associations between self-reported child abuse (sexual, physical, or emotional abuse) and neglect as children and diabetes or prediabetes in young adulthood. We conducted sex-stratified logistic regression analyses to evaluate associations in models before and after the addition of body mass index (BMI) as a covariate.

Results
Although the prevalence of diabetes was similar for men and women (7.0% vs 6.7%), men were more likely than women to have prediabetes (36.3% vs 24.6%; omnibus P < .001). Among men, recurrent sexual abuse (≥3 lifetime incidents) was significantly associated with diabetes (OR, 3.66; 95% CI, 1.31–10.24), but not with prediabetes. There was no evidence of mediation by BMI. No forms of child abuse or neglect were associated with diabetes or prediabetes among women.

Conclusion
Recurrent sexual abuse is robustly associated with diabetes in young adult men, independently of other forms of child abuse or neglect and BMI. Future research should explore other potential mechanisms for this association to identify avenues for prevention of diabetes among men who have experienced sexual abuse.

Acknowledgments

This article was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) grant no. P30DK092950, Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research, NIDDK, or NIH. We acknowledge the support of the Washington University Institute for Public Health for cosponsoring, with the Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research, the Next Steps in Public Health event that led to the development of this article.

 Top

Author Information

Corresponding Author: Alexis E. Duncan, PhD, MPH, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, One Brookings Dr, Campus Box 1196, St Louis, MO 63130. Telephone: 314-935-6758. Email: aduncan@wustl.edu.

Author Affiliations: Wendy F. Auslander; Kathleen K. Bucholz, Richard I. Stein, Neil H. White, Washington University and Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri; Darrell L. Hudson, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri. Dr Duncan is also affiliated with the Center for Diabetes Translational Research of Washington University and the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center and the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.

 Top

References

1. American Diabetes Association. Economic costs of diabetes in the US in 2012. Diabetes Care 2013;36(4):1033–46. and CrossRef PubMed
2. Geiss LS, Wang JC, Cheng YJ, Thompson TJ, Barker L, Li Y, et al. Prevalence and incidence trends for diagnosed diabetes among adults aged 20 to 79 years, United States, 1980–2012. JAMA 2014;312(12):1218–26. CrossRef PubMed
3. National diabetes statistics report: estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States, 2014. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2014.
4. Wild SH, Byrne CD. Risk factors for diabetes and coronary heart disease. BMJ 2006;333(7576):1009–11. CrossRef PubMed
5. Hemmingsson E, Johansson A, Reynisdottir S. Effects of childhood abuse on adult obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev 2014;15(11):882–93. CrossRef PubMed
6. Dube SR, Felitti VJ, Dong M, Giles WH, Anda RF. The impact of adverse childhood experiences on health problems: evidence from four birth cohorts dating back to 1900. Prev Med 2003;37(3):268–77. CrossRef PubMed
7. Williamson DF, Thompson TJ, Anda RF, Dietz WH, Felitti V. Body weight and obesity in adults and self-reported abuse in childhood. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002;26(8):1075–82.CrossRef PubMed
8. Widom CS, Czaja SJ, Bentley TS, Johnson MS. A prospective investigation of physical health outcomes in abused and neglected children: new findings from a 30-year follow-up. Am J Public Health 2012;102(6):1135–44. CrossRef PubMed
9. Heim C, Shugart M, Craighead WE, Nemeroff CB. Neurobiological and psychiatric consequences of child abuse and neglect. Dev Psychobiol 2010;52(7):671–90. CrossRef PubMed
10. Hemmingsson E. A new model of the role of psychological and emotional distress in promoting obesity: conceptual review with implications for treatment and prevention. Obes Rev 2014;15(9):769–79. CrossRef PubMed
11. Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards VJ, et al. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Am J Prev Med 1998;14(4):245–58. CrossRef PubMed
12. Wildeman C, Emanuel N, Leventhal M, Putnam-Hornstein E, Waldfogel J, Lee H. The prevalence of confirmed maltreatment among US children, 2004 to 2011. JAMA Pediatr 2014;168(8):706–13. CrossRef PubMed
13. Fuemmeler BF, Dedert E, McClernon FJ, Beckham JC. Adverse childhood events are associated with obesity and disordered eating: results from a US population-based survey of young adults. J Trauma Stress 2009;22(4):329–33. CrossRef PubMed
14. Richardson AS, Dietz WH, Gordon-Larsen P. The association between childhood sexual and physical abuse with incident adult severe obesity across 13 years of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Pediatr Obes. 2014;9(5):351–61. CrossRef PubMed
15. Clark CJ, Spencer RA, Everson-Rose SA, Brady SS, Mason M, Connett JE, et al. Dating violence, childhood maltreatment, and BMI from adolescence to young adulthood. Pediatrics 2014;134(4):678–85. CrossRef PubMed
16. Shin SH, Miller DP. A longitudinal examination of childhood maltreatment and adolescent obesity: results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) Study. Child Abuse Negl 2012;36(2):84–94. CrossRef PubMed
17. Hussey JM, Chang JJ, Kotch JB. Child maltreatment in the United States: prevalence, risk factors, and adolescent health consequences. Pediatrics 2006;118(3):933–42. CrossRef PubMed
18. Tamayo T, Christian H, Rathmann W. Impact of early psychosocial factors (childhood socioeconomic factors and adversities) on future risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic disturbances, and obesity: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 2010;10:525. PubMed
19. UNC Carolina Population Center. Add Health: social, behavioral, and biological linkages across the life course. http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth. Accessed September 15, 2014.
20. Adler NE, Epel ES, Castellazzo G, Ickovics JR. Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: preliminary data in healthy white women. Health Psychol 2000;19(6):586–92. CrossRef PubMed
21. Ostrove JM, Adler NE, Kuppermann M, Washington E. Objective and subjective assessments of socioeconomic status and their relationship to self-rated health in an ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women. Health Psychol 2000;19(6):613–8. CrossRef PubMed
22. Keister LS, Moller S. Wealth inequality in the United States. Annu Rev Sociol 2000;26:63–81. CrossRef
23. Nelson EC, Heath AC, Madden PAF, Cooper ML, Dinwiddie SH, Bucholz KK, et al. Association between self-reported childhood sexual abuse and adverse psychosocial outcomes: results from a twin study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59(2):139–45. CrossRef PubMed
24. Fuller-Thomson E, Bejan R, Hunter JT, Grundland T, Brennenstuhl S. The link between childhood sexual abuse and myocardial infarction in a population-based study. Child Abuse Negl 2012;36(9):656–65. PubMed
25. Pérez-Fuentes G, Olfson M, Villegas L, Morcillo C, Wang S, Blanco C. Prevalence and correlates of childhood sexual abuse: a national study. Compr Psychiatry 2013;54(1):16–27. CrossRefPubMed
26. Holmes WC, Slap GB. Sexual abuse of boys. JAMA 1998;280(21):1855–62. CrossRef PubMed
27. Dube SR, Anda RF, Whitfield CL, Brown DW, Felitti VJ, Dong M, et al. Long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim. Am J Prev Med 2005;28(5):430–8. CrossRefPubMed
28. Tuomi T, Santoro N, Caprio S, Cai M, Weng J, Groop L. The many faces of diabetes: a disease with increasing heterogeneity. Lancet 2014;383(9922):1084–94. CrossRef PubMed