Burden of Mental Disorders and Suicide Attributable to Childhood Maltreatment

JAMA Psychiatry

Studies have demonstrated that childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with mental health conditions, but this study uses a quasi-experimental design and meta-analysis to assess proportion of various mental health issues that are attributed to childhood maltreatment. The authors found that approximately 25% of mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, alcohol use disorder (AUD), substance use disorders (SUD), self-harm, and suicide) could be attributed to childhood mistreatment, accounting for approximately 1.8 million cases in Australia. Approximately 27% of AUD and 32% of SUD were attributed to childhood maltreatment. The findings strongly support the importance of efforts to prevent childhood maltreatment. 

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