Casting a long shadow: Exploring the link between childhood maltreatment and cancer in adulthood

Matthew Robert Langiano, Carmine Malfitano and Esme Fuller-Thomson

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Childhood adversities, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and exposure to parental domestic violence (PDV), have been linked to negative health outcomes in adulthood, yet their specific association with cancer in older Canadians remains understudied. The current study investigated the associations between these specific childhood adversities and cancer in Canadian older adults. We conducted a secondary analysis of the nationally representative cross-sectional 2022 Canadian Mental Health and Access to Care Survey (MHACS). The sample size was 2,636 Canadians aged 65 and older. Bivariate and logistic regression models assessed the relationship between self-reported cancer diagnoses and self-reported childhood adversities – childhood sexual abuse (CSA) (including unwanted touch/fondling and Childhood Sexual Violence with Coercion (CSVC)), childhood physical abuse (CPA), and PDV. Logistic regression analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, health behaviors, chronic pain, mental health conditions, and psychosocial factors. In the bivariate analyses, those who had experienced childhood adversities had a significantly (p

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0345411

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0345411

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