Mindfulness Protects Adults' Health From the Negative Effect of Childhood Adversity

First Posted: Sep 16, 2014 06:01 AM EDT
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A new study has found that being present in the moment and accepting one's reactions, known as mindfulness, can help improve the health of victims of child abuse or neglect.

Child neglect is listed as the most frequent type of child abuse. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data Systems (NCANDS), nearly 899,000 U.S. children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2005. Child neglect is defined as the type of maltreatment that reveals the failure of the caregiver to offer the required age-appropriate care.

In the current study, researchers at the Temple University conducted a survey on 2160 adults working in Head start, the nation's largest federally funded early childhood education program. This is the first study that evaluated the association between childhood adversity, mindfulness and health. They found that adults who were abused or neglected as children had poor health, but they could boost their health by accepting their reactions to the present moment.

The subjects were asked whether or not they experienced any of the eight types of childhood adversities like abuse or having a drug addict or alcoholic parent. Their health status was enquired as well as their mindfulness, meaning their tendency in daily life to pay attention to the events taking place in the moment and to be aware of and accept the thoughts and feelings.

The researchers noticed that more than one-fourth of the subjects reported experiencing three or more types of adverse childhood experiences. Nearly 30 percent had three or more stress-related health conditions that included depression, headache or back pain. Those with highest level of mindfulness had 50 percent lower risk of having multiple health conditions.

"Our results suggest that mindfulness may provide some resilience against the poor adult health outcomes that often result from childhood trauma. Mindfulness training may help adults, including those with a history of childhood trauma, to improve their own well-being and be more effective with children," said Robert Whitaker, professor of public health and pediatrics. "Mindfulness practices could be a promising way to reduce the high costs to our society that result from the trauma adults experienced during childhood."

The study was documented in the Journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

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