Childhood Maltreatment Essay

Childhood maltreatment is defined as emotional or physical maltreatment and sexual abuse that has the potential to cause harm to a child (The relation) while childhood adversity refers to physical or emotional acts that may be potentially harmful to a child’s development (Relationship). Both have similar effects in that they have been found to increase the risk of the development of a psychotic disorder and psychotic symptoms in adults. Childhood maltreatment has been proven to increase the risk of developing depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia in adults. The studies observed in this paper will help to understand if childhood maltreatment and adversity has any effect on the social functioning of people diagnosed with psychotic disorders,

They used face to face interviewing to assess their participants on items such as psychopathology, substance use, functioning, quality of life, employment, and childhood adversity, specifically looking at sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect. The findings showed that there was a significantly high number of participants who reported being abused as a child before the onset of their illness. Nearly one third of people who have been diagnosed with a psychotic illness, reported child abuse (Prevalence). Reporting on the question about social functioning, it was found that men who experience childhood maltreatment were more likely to be homeless, while women were less likely to have completed their final year of education, and both were more likely to attempt suicide (prevalence). Overall, this study was able to correspond with previous studies done and prove that those diagnosed with a psychotic illness experience a higher severity of certain symptoms and risks if they have a history of childhood