New Data: Surprising Number Of California Parents Experienced Abuse As Children

“One out of five California adults with children living in their homes were beaten, kicked or physically abused when they were children, and one in ten were sexually abused, according to data released recently by a children’s health foundation.

“36 percent of adults with children living in their homes experienced verbal abuse as children; 19 percent witnessed domestic violence. In some counties, including San Bernardino, Contra Costa and Riverside, a fifth of adults who have children in their homes reported experiencing at least four different adverse childhood experiences growing up. Those experiences can include physical, sexual and verbal abuse, having parents divorce, and living with someone who suffers from mental illness or abuses drugs or alcohol.

The findings come from data collected in a survey by the Public Health Institute. Marta Induni, research program director at the institute’s Survey Research Group, oversaw the survey of nearly 28,000 California residents. She said she has been particularly touched by the many people who have thanked her for asking them about painful and often stigmatized childhood experiences.

“I think that speaks to the importance of just putting this into the common vernacular: ‘Let’s talk about this,’” she said.

Read the full article on California Healthline.

Read more about the study on Slate.

Originally published by California Healthline