Einleitung Evidence of the effects of childhood verbal abuse on health outcomes is scarce. This systematic review aimed to analyze the hypothesis that exposure to childhood verbal abuse is negatively associated with health outcomes.
Methoden For this systematic review, we searched the databases Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus, and forward and backward citations for studies. All observational studies on the association between childhood verbal abuse (at the age of 0 to 17 years) and health were included, restricted to German and English language, and published between 2001 and June 2, 2021. Evidence from observational studies was descriptively synthesized. The different effect measures, the direction of effect, or p-values presented varied, depending on the type of study. Exposure was classified as a risk factor or no influence. The quality of evidence was assessed with the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist. The protocol was registered on the Center for Open Science, number 3u9t2.
Ergebnisse Of 2107 records identified, 23 were eligible and full texts were available for 18 cohort and cross-sectional studies, 17 studies had a low to moderate risk of overall bias. The findings showed a heterogeneous set of health outcomes with inconsistent results. Childhood verbal abuse was a risk factor for 37 out of 88 investigated health outcomes in the categories of physical functioning, symptoms, disorders, social well-being, psychological well-being, and cognitive functioning. As an example, self-reported childhood verbal abuse (0-17 age) by parents or/and other relatives was identified as a risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder (B=3.10, p=0.003) after childhood (18-40 age). Regarding the categories, social well-being was self-reported childhood verbal abuse by parents (11-12 age) as a risk factor for verbal aggressive behavior (Nagelkerkes R 2 =0.080, p=0.003) in childhood (11-12 age).
Schlussfolgerung Childhood verbal abuse was described as a risk factor for some health outcomes. Concomitant forms are often physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in childhood, so a clear definite delimitation of the influence of childhood verbal abuse remains difficult. Future research should examine the influence of gender, socioeconomic status, and the role of duration on the occurrence of health effects.
