Study of Childhood Abuse and Anxiety: An Application of Logistic Regression

Introduction: Disorders can often lead to physical illness and suffering along with associated functional disability which hampers the overall well-being of a person. Consequently, it can lead to loss of productivity at the workplace, absenteeism, and social isolation which eventually affects the individual and the society. Researchers have found a crucial association between childhood traumatic experiences with developing anxiety or panic disorder. Methods: The purpose of this study is to do a logistic regression on Add health survey data to examine whether a history of childhood abuse tends to lead to a diagnosis of anxiety or panic disorder in later life. Additionally, medical conditions such as ADHD, PTSD or socio-economic conditions, and addiction were also investigated for their possible contribution to developing anxiety or panic disorder. Results: 49.4 % of respondents reported having faced either physical, emotional, or sexual abuse before the age of 18. Among the total respondents, 12.5 % reported having been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and among these individuals, 25.9 % reported having experienced physical abuse, 64.6 % faced emotional abuse, and 10.3 % said they faced sexual abuse earlier in their life. Results from logistic regression indicated gender (OR=2.069; 95% CI 1.627-2.7), race (OR=0.513; 95% CI 1.442-2.634), PTSD (OR=2.087; 95% CI 1.811-4.35), depression (OR 9.857; 95% CI 7.752-12.535) had a significant effect on developing anxiety. Additionally, an individual who experienced any kind of abuse in their childhood is 0.7 times (95% CI 0.527-0.841) more likely to develop the panic disorder later in their life. Results from the unadjusted logistic regression model indicated that individuals who reported a history of childhood abuse have 1.799 times (95% CI 1.473-2.197) higher odds of being diagnosed with anxiety disorder. Interestingly, women have higher odds (OR= 2.039; 95% CI 1.624-2.560) of having anxiety disorder than men if they were a victim of childhood abuse. Respondents who reported to have faced at least one type of abuse have approximately 1.886 (95% CI 1.512-2.354) times’ greater odds of having anxiety than those who didn’t. Consecutively, experiencing the two types of abuse increased the odds to 2.502 (95% CI 1.930-3.244) finally undergoing all three types of abuse increased the odds by more than double in comparison to those who faced a single kind. Conclusion: Childhood emotional abuse was found to be a more significant contributor to anxiety or panic disorder than other types of abuse. Any kind of childhood abuse experience seemed to have a greater effect on the female portion of the respondents in comparison to the males. Hence, to treat anxiety and panic disorders, childhood maltreatment and other mental illnesses like PTSD and depression should be considered by healthcare professionals to ensure optimal care. Furthermore, interventions targeting those issues need to be developed.