Childhood abuse and adult health: Evidence from the Canadian community health survey 2012 – Mental health - Childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for cancer: Findings from a population-based survey of Canadian adults

Objectives: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is an established risk factor for various mental and substance use disorders. This project adds to the evidence that CM may also be a risk factor along the causal pathway to longer-term... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is an established risk factor for various mental and substance use disorders. This project adds to the evidence that CM may also be a risk factor along the causal pathway to longer-term physical illness, such as cancer, for Canadian adults.

Method: Based on data from a sample of 21,878 men and women from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey - Mental Health (CCHS - MH), this study explores the associations between three types of CM (childhood physical abuse [CPA], childhood sexual abuse [CSA], and childhood exposure to intimate partner violence [CEIPV]) and cancer in adulthood. “Cancer” was defined as an affirmative response to either or both of these questions: ‘‘Do you have cancer?’’ ‘‘Have you ever been diagnosed with cancer?’’

Results: For women but not for men, having experienced any type of CM was significantly associated with having cancer as an adult, even when the effects due to age and income were controlled. There was evidence of a “dose-response” relationship, in that the likelihood of reporting cancer increased by the number of abuse types (CPA, CSA, CEIPV) reported, and the severity of CPA and CSA reported. Controlling for effects due to mediators such as smoking status, perceived life stress, depression, and alcohol use reduced but did not eliminate the association between CM and cancer for women.

Conclusion: Our analyses suggests an association between cancer in women and CPA, CSA, CEIPV even after controlling for the effects of known risk factors. Further analyses are required to enhance our understanding of the causal pathways to cancer, but histories of CM particularly among women, may require further consideration in this regard.