Childhood Trauma And Child Abuse Essay

Numerous studies show that childhood abuse at almost any age can carry many long-term effects throughout the rest of the victim’s life. A child who has been abused may grow up in the home with the abuser or may be one of the lucky few to be taken and put into a more caring and suitable environment to recover from the experiences. Sometimes (but very rarely) the children are returned home once the abuser is either gone from the home or has received help to recover. However, this experience is not taken lightly and cannot be understood by those who have not experienced it anyways. For many children who have experienced and suffered from childhood trauma such as abuse, help and getting to the main issue can be very difficult. Not treating said trauma can result in psychological disorders such as PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, often caused by traumatic experiences from abuse to war to natural disasters and even sexual assault. Females who experience child abuse are much more likely to develop PTSD. Other causes that help decide whether a victim will develop this disorder
Briere and M. Runtz started a study and investigated the emotional and household relationships of 465 victims of early on childhood sexual abuse. Out of the 465 victims, 419 were women and 56 were men. The victims completed a checklist called the “Trauma Symptom Checklist-33” as well as scaled the severity of their abuse. Throughout the study, the victims were asked questions about their emotional and personal relationship with the offender before the abuse started. The data was studied very carefully. The dependent variable was the adjustment to the abuse, which was measures by the trauma checklist. The independent variables were offender identity, sex, severity of abuse, and emotions shown towards the offender before being sexually abused. The most universal symptoms were discovered throughout the victims who were abused by a father figure and the women whose abuse was