ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2021
Maltreatment during childhood and risk for common mental disorders among first year university students in South Africa.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association of Recurrent and Multiple Types of Abuse with Adverse Mental Health, Substance Use, and Sexual Health Outcomes among Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Cape Town, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Bidirectional Association Between Psychological Resilience and Depression in Early Adolescents: the Predictive Role of Childhood Maltreatment.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- The burden of anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders attributable to childhood maltreatment among adolescents in Africa: insights from the global burden of disease study 2021.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Article
- Exposure to abuse and changes in cardiometabolic risk profiles over 3 years in young South African women.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Mental Health and Satisfaction With Life in First-Year College Students: Results From a Cross-Sectional Study in Vietnam.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Prevalence of child abuse and common mental comorbidity among university of Khartoum medical students, Khartoum, Sudan.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Intergenerational effects of child maltreatment on adolescents' anxiety and depression in Ethiopia: the important mediating and moderating roles of current psychological distress.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Correlations between childhood maltreatment, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and risk behaviors in adolescent schoolchildren.Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy · 2024Article
- Relationship Between Criminal and Status Offense Behaviors, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Cape Town, South Africa.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2024Article
- Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Outcomes Among University Students: A Longitudinal Study.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2023Article
- Symptoms of posttraumatic stress partially mediate the relationship between gender-based violence and alcohol misuse among South African women.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- Gender and Context Matter: Behavioral and Structural Interventions for People Who Use Alcohol and Other Drugs in Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Harmful Alcohol Use Associated with Intimate Partner Violence and Rape Exposures among Female Students in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Associations of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-Partner Sexual Violence with Hypertension in South African Women.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- University students' help seeking intention for depression from health professionals; a cross sectional study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Adverse childhood experiences, adult depression, and suicidal ideation in rural Uganda: A cross-sectional, population-based study.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- Predictors of Adolescent Depressive Symptoms.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeChildhood maltreatment elevates risk for common mental disorders (CMDs) during late adolescence and adulthood. Although CMDs are highly prevalent among university students, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and 12 month CMDs in a low- to middle-income countries. This paper describes the prevalence of maltreatment and the relationship between type, number and patterns of maltreatment exposure and 12 month CMDs among first-year university students in South Africa.
methodsMaltreatment and CMD data were collected via well-validated self-report scales (corresponding with DSM-IV diagnoses) in a web-based survey of first-year students from two large urban universities (n = 1290) in South Africa. Various multivariate modelling approaches (additive, restrictive interactive and latent class) were used to examine the relationship between maltreatment and CMDs.
resultsOverall, 48.4% of participants reported childhood maltreatment, the most common type being emotional abuse (26.7%). Regardless of the modelling approach used, emotional abuse was the only type of maltreatment independently associated with 12-month diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) or drug use disorder (DUD) even after adjusting for types and number of types of maltreatment. Similarly, students in the latent class reflecting histories of emotional abuse (either alone or combined with physical abuse) were more likely to meet criteria for 12-month MDD, GAD or DUD.
conclusionFindings confirm the high prevalence of childhood maltreatment among South African students. As this exposure elevates risk for MDD, GAD and DUD, interventions aimed at preventing and treating CMDs among first-year students should address experiences of childhood maltreatment.
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