Risk Factor Articles: Child Abuse and Brain Development

Study Finds Child Abuse Can Lead to Stunted Brain Development (February 14, 2012) Medical Xpress Retrieved on February 15, 2012 from http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-child-abuse-stunted-brain.html

What affect does child abuse has on a developing brain? This article looks at the relationship between brain development and chilld abuse. The research was conducted through questionaires of volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25 year old healthy adults and brain scans. It was comprised of 73 men and 120 women. "All were given questionaires that delved into their childhood, specifically addressing issues of verbal, mental and physical abuse and other types of stresses such as the death of someone close to them or problems between parent." (MedicalXpress) Each volunteer was given a brain scan (MRI) which the research team "then compared the answers given on the questionaires to the possibly impacted areas in the hippocampus of each volunteer." (MedicalXpress) According to this article the researchers found that "the brain regions under study were 5.8 to 6.5 percent smaller than average for those that reported such childhood stresses."

Also according to this article "the researchers suggest that smaller brain regions due to childhood stress may help explain the abnormally high levels of mental illness (depression, bi-polarism, anxiety, etc.) seen in adults who have endured abuse as children and why so many wind up with drug dependency problems. The research conducted in this article shows how the affects of child abuse in children can cause mental problems in the adult stage of a child's life. Stress is also an enormous risk factor in child abuse and on the developing brain. "The researchers believe that increased stress leads to higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which in turn can slow or even stop the growth of new neurons in the brain which can result in permanently stunting certain brain regions." (MedicalXpress) Although this article does not give more information on the volunteers besides their age and that they are all healthy race and socioeconomic statuses are not reported as well as where the vounteers live. The goal of this research is to bring awareness to the "damage that is done when children are subjected to adverse living conditions, leading to earlier interventions and possibly a means for developing treatments that may aid in preventing the stunting of brain regions, thus helping to pave the way for a better quality of life for those that have been abused as children." (MedicalXpress)

This article is important to parents because it will help them to understand that abuse in any form can be detrimental to a child's developing brain which in turn can affect their lives all the way up into adulthood. Parent's may believe that abuse can leave physical and emotional scars but this article stands to prove the scars that can be left on the brain which can be permanent. Not only will parent's understand the damaging affects child abuse has on the brain but they will began to understand the mental problems that child