Childhood Maltreatment and Mental and Physical Health in Haitian Adults

Purpose : To describe the prevalence of childhood maltreatment among Haitian adults and to examine its relationship to depression, general physical health, and quality of life. Design : Descriptive exploratory. Participants were men and women 18 years of age or older who were seated in the waiting area of a hospital‐based medical clinic in a medium‐sized city in Haiti. The author collected these data while on a Fulbright fellowship to Haiti in 2003. Methods : Two hundred fifty‐eight participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Cohen‐Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms, Center for Epidemiologic Study—Depression Scale, and a visual analogue quality of life scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression, and Student's t test. Findings : Over half (60%) of the women and 85.7% of the men reported at least one type of childhood maltreatment at the moderate to severe level. Of the total sample, 53.9% had scores indicative of major depression and 43.9% reported an average score of “somewhat bothered” by 37 physical symptoms. Childhood maltreatment (each of five types) was related to physical symptoms and depression. Conclusions : Rates of childhood maltreatment were high in this sample of Haitian adults, and their childhood maltreatment was related to physical and mental health symptoms in adulthood.