Half of Canadian soldiers faced childhood abuse, study indicates

[Kati]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/child-abuse-military-1.3421708

About half of Canada's soldiers have a history of child abuse and/or exposure to it, which is significantly higher than for the general population, indicates a new study led by a Manitoba researcher.

"We thought it was really an important finding," says Tracie Afifi, associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and lead author of the research released Wednesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry.

Any child abuse exposure was higher with members of the regular forces (47.7 per cent) and even higher among reservists (49.4 per cent).

Adults who were abused as children make up 33.1 per cent in the general population, according to the study, which also involved the Canadian Forces Health Services Group Headquarters in Ottawa and the University of Ottawa.

The researchers note that child abuse exposure can take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse "and exposure to intimate partner violence, and deployment-related trauma."

The study examined data from two Canadian surveys:

• The 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey, to which more than 8,000 military members responded.
• The 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey, which questioned about 25,000 people.

The research backs up similar findings in the U.S. that showed a higher prevalence of childhood abuse (of various forms) among military personnel compared with civilians.


And so on, this is half of the article and there is also a video clip.


it resembles greatly the sensational press releases that's psych lobbies like to spread in the media. Horrible.

 

[Snowdrop]

If the statistic about the general population holds true (I have no idea as to whether it is or not) then as an aside comment--
anyone who ever falls prey to any disease be it brain cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart disease/stroke, ALS or whatever--they will form part of a whole cohort of which 33%+- will have experienced CA.

That would be enough for the Pyschobabble types to go off and create a story of causality for just about anything they can get away with.

 

[Hip]

Kind of makes intuitive sense that those who have had a bad early family life might want to join the military, which can act as a surrogate family.

 

[helen1]

33% of children have been abused??? I think we'd really need to see their definition of child abuse to believe that one.

 

[Roy S]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/692584131029397504

 

[jimells]

The researchers note that child abuse exposure can take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse "and exposure to intimate partner violence, and deployment-related trauma."

That last criteria looks a little suspicious. Every kid in the country with a parent who lives away from them or travels for work probably qualifies for that one.

 

[Snow Leopard]

33% of children have been abused??? I think we'd really need to see their definition of child abuse to believe that one.

We live in a violent society, the figures don't surprise me. Some incidents may be isolated cases, or less severe, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.