Life Satisfaction Factors Following Adverse Childhood Experience

Background and objectives: Child abuse and neglect have been called an endemic because of the large numbers of children who are exposed at some point during their childhoods to intra-familiar violence. Empirical evidence suggests that these children may be at elevated risk of academic difficulties and short-term negative outcomes. However, few studies have examined the effects of exposure to intra-familiar violence as a child on overall well-being in the long-term. As a result, this study seeks to examine the relationship between exposure to violence as a child and adult life satisfaction, as well as to explore factors that influence life satisfaction in adults who were exposed to family violence or physically abused as a child.

Methods: All analyses used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), collected by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010. This sample included a subset of questions about adverse childhood experiences asked in four states and Washington D.C. (n = 19,039), representing adults over 18 years of age. Binary logistic regression was run to examine differences in life satisfaction for adults who reported physical abuse as a child or witnessing interpersonal violence between their parents as a child, and those who reported no exposure to violence. Socio-demographic characteristics were controlled for, as well other factors that were considered to possibly influence one’s life-satisfaction, such as perceived emotional support and the presence of children in the household.

Results: Preliminary results indicated that the majority of adults (94%) reported feeling satisfied with life. However, for adults who reported physical abuse as a child, over 11.7% reported dissatisfaction with their lives, compared to only 4% of adults who were not exposed to physical abuse as a child. In fact, adults who had been physically abused as children were 2.2 more times likely to report life dissatisfaction than those who had not. Emotional support was strongly associated with life satisfaction, both for adults who had been exposed to violence as children. Income and marital status were also associated with life satisfaction, with adults who were married more likely to report satisfaction than those who were not, and adults with higher incomes more likely to report satisfaction than those with lower incomes.

Conclusions and implications: As is the case with prior studies that have found child maltreatment to be associated with poorer short-term outcomes, these results indicate that child maltreatment and exposure to violence are associated with lower levels of life satisfaction in the long-term. However, for adults who were exposed to violence as children, reported emotional support and higher income resulted in them being more likely to report life satisfaction. These findings can help guide interventions and practices with people at different developmental stages in the aftermath of childhood exposure to violence. Specifically, be reinforcing support networks and relational connections of people who were exposed to violence as a child, the likelihood that they can achieve life satisfaction will increase, influencing long-term outcomes for survivors of child abuse.