Parenting
Bad home life causes major detriments to a child's life.
Physical Abuse
Physical Abuse is a major cause of harmful effects to child's health in the long and short term. Physical abuse by children has been shown in studies to be a major cause of increased mental illness, substance abuse, and overall bad health. Physically abused kids were found to be a greatly increased risk of mental illness such as anxiety problems, depression, and overall social function. Studies found that these problems were not a short term effect that faded with time but rather an ongoing problem that was stead and consistent throughout a person's life. Physically abused subjects were also found to be at a greater risk of substance abuse problems such as alcoholism, smoking, and illegal drug use. They were more than twice as likely (21% vs. 59.7%) to be current smokers and also more likely to be obese (27 % vs. 42.6%) compared to the U.S. median. This effect demonstrates the increased risk of short term problems such as accidents resulting from alcohol abuse as well as long term effects such as the development of lung cancer from tobacco smoking.
Divorce
Another major impact on a child's home life is the relationship between the child's parents. Divorce is a major part of many kids' lives in the United States today and the effects of this phenomenon can have a major detrimental effect on a child's life. Many effects of physical abuse are mirrored in the effects of divorce. Children of divorced parents are more likely to abuse alcohol, tobacco, and other psychoactive substances. Divorce can also lead to other externally observable effects such as aggression and diminished academic achievement that often emerge quickly following a familial break-up. Divorce also leads to many internal struggles within a child. Many children from broken homes suffer from increased fears, more instances of depression, and greater sadness than the general population. This problems persist throughout life and demonstrate the long-term effects of a divorce on a child's future well-being.
Verbal Abuse
Verbal abuse is an often overlooked form of abuse that leads to many short and long term problems in a child's life. Verbal abuse is often more difficult to define than tangible forms of abuse but is widely regarded to be an attack on a child's development of self and social competence, a pattern of psychologically destructive behavior. Verbal abuse is often a pattern of mistreatment by parents or guardians that involves repetitive attacks over many years of the child's adolescent development. Verbal abuse leads to short term effects such as a diminished view of one's self worth and confusion regarding the child's identity. While these effects can be short term, they can also lead to lifelong problems such as identity crisis and low self-esteem. Depression and diminished social capacity can also result from repeated verbal abuse of child. These effects often persist throughout life and are not just a short term effect of the abuse. These problems often require intensive and consistent medical care to correct and can become a major disability for the child throughout life.
Neglect
Neglect is a major form a child maltreatment in the United States. Child neglect results from a parent or guardian not properly catering to a child's properly to a child's physical or emotional needs. Child neglect is often classified as emotional abuse because even though it can involve physical aspects it often leaves an emotional scare on the child. Child neglect causes many detriments to an affected child. A victim of neglect will often suffer from various problems including PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), MDD (Major Depressive Disorder), decreased academic performance, and an increased incidence of crime. Decreased academic achievement and increased crime demonstrate the more short term results of neglect. Despite this, both can have major impacts on future life outcomes. Decreased grade marks in school will likely result in a decline in future income and lower life standards. Crime early in life is also an indicator for a greater recurrence of crime in the future and a greater probability of turning into a career criminal. PTSD and MDD demonstrate the more long term effects of child neglect. PTSD and MDD both are disorders that affect many portions of the U.S. population and are historically difficult to treat. These problems associated with neglect are often even more difficult to solve because it is difficult for the connection between child neglect and the symptoms to be made. This can cause a greater treatment time and the chance of lifelong problems. This is why the symptoms and problems left behind by child neglect are referred to as the "invisible scar" due to the difficulty of identifying the abuse but the real consequences that the abuse leaves on the child.
Works Cited
Arkes, Jeremy. "The Temporal Effects of Parental Divorce on Youth Substance Use."
Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Bentley, Tyrone, Sally J. Czaja, Mark S. Johnson, and Cathy Spatz Widom. "A Prospective Investigation of Physical Health Outcomes in Abused and Neglected Children: New Findings From a 30-Year Follow-Up." American Journal of Public Health 102.6 (2012): 1135-144. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Esteban, Esther J. "Parental Verbal Abuse:Culture Specific Coping Behavior of College
Students in the Philippines." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Mar. 2006. Web. 12
Nov. 2014.
Herrenkohl, Todd I., Seunghye Hong, J. Bart Klika, Roy C. Herrenkohl, and M. Jean Russo. "Developmental Impacts of Child Abuse and Neglect Related to Adult Mental Health, Substance Use, and Physical Health." Journal of Family Violence 28.2 (2013): 191199. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Hopper, James A. "The Effects Of Divorce on Children: A Review Of The Literature."
Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Nikulinka, Valentina, Cathy Widom, and Sally Czaja. "The Role of Childhood Neglect and
Childhood Poverty in Predicting Mental Health, Academic Achievement and Crime in
Adulthood." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Reinert, Duane F. "Childhood Physical and Verbal Mistreatment, Psychological
Symptoms and Substance Use: Sex Differences and the Moderating Role
of Attachment." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Nov. 2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Shaw, E. and Goode, S. (2008). "Fact Sheet: Vulnerable Young Children". Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolnia, FPG Child Developmental Institute, National Early Childhood Techincal Assistance Center. 2. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Shi, Lin. "Childhood Abuse and Neglect in an Outpatient Clinical Sample: Prevalence and
Impact." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, May-June 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Tollefson, Derrik R. "Child abuse." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Bentley, Tyrone, Sally J. Czaja, Mark S. Johnson, and Cathy Spatz Widom. "A Prospective Investigation of Physical Health Outcomes in Abused and Neglected Children: New Findings From a 30-Year Follow-Up." American Journal of Public Health 102.6 (2012): 1135-144. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Esteban, Esther J. "Parental Verbal Abuse:Culture Specific Coping Behavior of College
Students in the Philippines." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Mar. 2006. Web. 12
Nov. 2014.
Herrenkohl, Todd I., Seunghye Hong, J. Bart Klika, Roy C. Herrenkohl, and M. Jean Russo. "Developmental Impacts of Child Abuse and Neglect Related to Adult Mental Health, Substance Use, and Physical Health." Journal of Family Violence 28.2 (2013): 191199. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Hopper, James A. "The Effects Of Divorce on Children: A Review Of The Literature."
Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Nikulinka, Valentina, Cathy Widom, and Sally Czaja. "The Role of Childhood Neglect and
Childhood Poverty in Predicting Mental Health, Academic Achievement and Crime in
Adulthood." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Reinert, Duane F. "Childhood Physical and Verbal Mistreatment, Psychological
Symptoms and Substance Use: Sex Differences and the Moderating Role
of Attachment." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Nov. 2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Shaw, E. and Goode, S. (2008). "Fact Sheet: Vulnerable Young Children". Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolnia, FPG Child Developmental Institute, National Early Childhood Techincal Assistance Center. 2. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Shi, Lin. "Childhood Abuse and Neglect in an Outpatient Clinical Sample: Prevalence and
Impact." Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, May-June 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Tollefson, Derrik R. "Child abuse." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.