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Distinguished Lecture Series, Dr. Cathy Spatz Widom

Distinguished Lecture Series, Dr. Cathy Spatz Widom

This presentation describes the long-term consequences of childhood abuse and neglect across a broad range of outcomes (academic and intellectual, social and behavioral, psychiatric, and physical health). In contrast to most studies that are cross-sectional, this presentation describes results from a prospective cohort design study with documented cases of childhood physical and sexual abuse and neglect and a control group matched on the basis of age, sex, race, and approximate childhood family social class. Both groups (abuse/neglect and controls) have been followed up in several waves of interviews and data collection efforts over 30 years. The most recent data collection effort was completed in 2010 when the participants were in their late 40s and early 50s. The presentation will briefly review (1) basic statistics on child abuse and neglect; (2) history of the project and its design; (3) cascading consequences, with examples of gender and race differences; (4) resilience; and (5) conclusions.

View the program flyer.