“Hopeful” Findings – Two Thirds of Childhood Physical Abuse Survivors Are Psychologically Flourishing in Adulthood [scitechdaily.com]

By University of Toronto, Image: from article, SciTechDaily, June 12, 2023

A recently published study in the Children and Youth Services Review has revealed that nearly 63% of adults who endured physical abuse during their childhood are now in a state of complete mental health, often referred to as psychological flourishing.

“This is a very hopeful finding for survivors of childhood physical abuse,” says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging. “Our findings indicate that many individuals with a history of physical abuse go on to achieve high levels of life satisfaction and psychological well-being. These results highlight the incredible resiliency among this population.”

Researchers compared a nationally representative sample of 853 Canadians with a history of childhood physical abuse to 17,216 respondents with no history of abuse using data drawn from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health.

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