Prevalence and overlap of childhood and adult physical, sexual, and emotional abuse: a descriptive analysis of results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey.

Abuse is associated with a wide variety of health problems, yet comprehensive population-based data are scant. Existing literature focuses on a single type of abuse, population, or lifestage. Using a racially/ethnically diverse community-based sample, we document the prevalence of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by lifestage and gender, assess variation in abuse by sociodemographics; establish overlap of abuses; and examine childhood abuse relationships with abuse in adulthood. Prevalence of abuse ranges from 15% to 27%; women report more adulthood emotional abuse and lifetime sexual abuse than men; reports of abuse can vary by race/ethnicity and poverty status, particularly in women; there is overlap between types of abuse; and a history of childhood abuse is associated with a greater risk of abuse as an adult.