Childhood abuse is positively related to adult depression, aggression, hostility, anger, fear, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders. At least 3 meta-analyses on the effects of childhood sexual abuse find clear and convincing evidence of a link between such abuse and a host of adult psychological symptoms. Childhood abuse to have consistent significant effects on early onset and recurrent depression and that violence from siblings or multiple family members was most strongly associated with recurrent depression. Other studies also show that childhood abuse has consistent effects on first onset of early adult psychopathology. Women with such abuse also had significantly greater lifetime prevalence’s of agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, sexual disorders, and suicide attempts than women without such abuse. Adults who experienced either sexual or physical abuse as children are found to have anxiety disorders and depressive disorders to be significantly higher in both men and women with a history of either physical or sexual abuse.
I believe parents should go to jail for abusing their kids; it is a serious issue that many Americans go through. Kids need to grow up in a safe and loving environment so they can be productive adults. If parents are sent to jail that means the child will no longer have a parent, but they are better off without them. If they are getting mistreated at home then they are in a better situation at a foster home than with a crazy parent.
In conclusion, I believe there are long term affects to child abuse and adults or parents