A new survey has found that 1 in 5 California adults cohabitating with children were physically abused in their youth. One in 10 report having been sexually abused as children.

Accurate data is essential to interventions in cycles of abuse. It’s difficult to get solid numbers on child abuse, since so much goes unreported, and child welfare advocates will sometimes file neglect reports to remove children from dangerous situations with allegations that are easier to prove.

The data was gathered in a survey of almost 28,000 California adults, administered by the Public Health Institute and released by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. Collected from 2008 to 2013, the data covers a range of “adverse childhood experiences,” including all kinds of abuse, incarcerated or divorced parents, witnessing domestic violence, and family substance abuse or mental illness.

[For more of this story, written by Christina Cauterucci, go to http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_...sed_as_children.html]