Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Date of Award

12-2019

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Advisor(s)

John Herbold

Second Advisor

Byengyeob Choi

Abstract

This retrospective cohort study analyzed self-reported and biological data collected from MIDUS in 2004-2006 to understand the association between the types of childhood maltreatment (CM) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The central hypothesis of this study is that childhood maltreatment is positively associated with adult onset diabetes (T2DM). CM has been associated with lifelong morbidity and an increased risk in chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease (Bernstein RE, 2013). In this study, CM was defined by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The CTQ has three types of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, and two types of neglect: physical and emotional. Within each type of CM, there were four severity status: minimal/none, moderate, heavy, and severe. The variables analyzed were demographics: age, sex, highest educational attainment, and race, depression status, obesity status, and CM. This research found a 1.25 times increase in risk for high HbA1C for exposed participants compared to unexposed. The results of this study support the initial hypothesis that CM is significantly associated with T2DM. The findings of this study are similar to previous knowledge and biological plausibility. This study concluded that CM is positively associated with an increase in CM even when obesity and depression status are held constant.

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