Abstract
Age-cohort variation in childhood trauma was examined in the present study. The data were taken from the 1994/95 Canadian National Population Health Survey of household residents (n = 15,106). Childhood trauma was measured by a seven-item index (items reflected physical abuse, fearful experiences, hospitalization, being sent away from home, and parental disturbance). Reported prevalence of childhood trauma increased with each successively younger age-cohort (range = 31% to 60%). Females showed a larger change than males, and age differences grew more pronounced as trauma exposure increased. The data suggest that childhood trauma has been on the increase over the last few decades. This is in accord with findings from other studies which showed that depression and social problems have also been on the rise. This suggests that adult psychiatric sequelae of early trauma can be expected to show an increase in future years.
Résumé
Dans cette étude, nous examinons les variations des traumatismes de l’enfance par cohorte d’âge. Les données proviennent de l’Enquête nationale sur la santé de la population réalisée en 1994–1995 auprès des ménages (n = 15 106). Les traumatismes infantiles ont été mesurés en fonction d’une échelle composée de sept critères (traduisant la violence physique, les épisodes de frayeur, les cas d’hospitalisation, l’éloignement du foyer et les dysfonctionnements parentaux). On constate que plus la cohorte considérée est jeune, plus le taux de prévalence des traumatismes infantiles augmente (fourchette = de 31 à 60 %). La différence est apparue plus marquée chez les filles que chez les garçons et l’écart entre les âges s’accentuait parallèlement à l’augmentation de l’exposition aux traumatismes. Les données tendent à montrer une augmentation des traumatismes chez les enfants au cours des dernières décennies, ce qui est conforme aux conclusions d’autres études qui montrent que dépressions et problèmes sociaux sont en hausse. On peut donc en déduire que les séquelles d’ordre psychiatrique chez les adultes résultant de traumatismes infantiles vont augmenter dans les années à venir.
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