ArticleChild abuse & neglect2023
Associations between childhood maltreatment and physiological dysregulation in adulthood: Methodological decisions and implications.
Article in Child abuse & neglect, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early life adversity, educational attainment, and cardiometabolic risk among middle-aged and older adults in the United States.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Exposure to abuse and changes in cardiometabolic risk profiles over 3 years in young South African women.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Allostatic Load and Allostatic Overload: Preventive and Clinical Implications.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundChildhood maltreatment is linked with health problems in adulthood. Theoretical models suggest that maltreatment leads to dysregulation in several bodily systems, and this has been corroborated using measures of physiological function (i.e., biomarkers). Methodological decisions involving the measurement of maltreatment and dimension reduction with respect to biomarkers (i.e., combining information across multiple measures) may influence research findings.
objectiveThe present study compares associations between childhood maltreatment and adult physiological dysregulation using multiple dimension reduction approaches and measures of maltreatment. PARTICIPANTS AND
settingParticipants were recruited, as children, to a prospective study of the correlates and consequences of childhood maltreatment. 253 participants were retained and provided biomarker data at midlife. Physiological dysregulation was operationalized with a conventional allostatic load approach and a novel statistical distance approach.
methodsRegression models were employed with allostatic load or statistical distance as the outcome and prospectively or retrospectively measured child maltreatment as the primary predictor.
resultsWhen using allostatic load as the outcome, prospectively measured childhood maltreatment was positively associated with physiological dysregulation (b = 0.70, SE = 0.31, p = 0.02). When using statistical distance as the outcome, retrospectively measured childhood maltreatment was positively associated with physiological dysregulation (b = 0.69, SE = 0.19 p < 0.001).
conclusionsWe report a positive association between childhood maltreatment and physiological dysregulation at midlife. However, the significance and magnitude of effects varied with different maltreatment and physiological dysregulation measures. Further review of the methods used to study adult health conditions and their relation to childhood maltreatment is needed.
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