Outcomes of Childhood Abuse and Neglect for Young Adult Survivors

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will address the outcomes of childhood maltreatment for young adult survivors. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2016) defines child maltreatment as abuse and neglect of children under the age of 18. This includes physical and/or emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence, and exploitation that causes actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development, or self-worth. While rates of child maltreatment vary based on how it is defined and measured, the number of children with maltreatment histories is substantial; in 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services reported approximately 3.5 million cases. While median rates of maltreatment depend on the continent, over 60% of African boys reported physical abuse, 20% of North American and Australian girls endorsed sexual abuse, and 55% of South American children described some form of neglect (Moody, 2018). Childhood maltreatment has been associated with higher mortality rates (Segal et al., 2021), cognitive impairment, and physical health problems (Young-Southward et al., 2020a; 2020b), economic hardships (Henry et al., 2018), and the development of internalizing and externalizing disorders as well as antisocial personality disorder (Russotti et al., 2021). 

This Special Issue of Social Sciences will focus on how childhood maltreatment experiences have affected outcomes among young adults. This developmental phase of adulthood is associated with cognitive, social, and emotional maturation (Bonnie et al., 2015). How does a history of childhood maltreatment affect these changes? The articles in this Special Issue will address the effects of child maltreatment on subsequent development during young adulthood, as well as relevant risk and protective factors. Papers should highlight the implications of early maltreatment experiences on early adulthood and inform initiatives that provide safe, healthy, and prosperous environments to children and young adult survivors. Submissions should be based on rigorous empirical work, using psychometrically strong measures and following ethical standards. Articles that focus on underrepresented marginalized groups are also encouraged.

Related academic resources:

Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults (2015)

https://www.nap.edu/initiative/committee-on-improving-the-health-safety-and-well-being-of-young-adults

The harmful effect of child maltreatment on economic outcomes in adulthood (2018)

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304635

Establishing the international prevalence of self-reported child maltreatment: a systematic review by maltreatment type and gender (2018)

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-6044-y

Child maltreatment and the development of psychopathology: The role of developmental timing and chronicity (2021)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014521342100288X

Investigating the causal relationship between maltreatment and cognition in children: A systematic review (2020)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213420302581

Child maltreatment, autonomic nervous system responsivity, and psychopathology: current state of the literature and future directions (2019)

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1077559519848497

Child Maltreatment 2019 by US Children’s Bureau

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/child-maltreatment-2019

Child maltreatment 2016 by World Health Organization

https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/208332

Dr. Sara Chiara Haden
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• child abuse
• child neglect
• emotional abuse
• youth violence, risk and resilience
• posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd)
• stress
• violence
• young adults and substance use
• economic outcomes
• academic functioning