Study suggests child abuse increases risk of avoidable drug death
Young Aussie adults involved with protective services as children are five times more likely to die from substance abuse
Children who experience abuse are at greater risk of avoidable death in early adulthood, Australian research shows.
Researchers from the University of SA analysed data on 331,254 people born in the state between 1986 and 2003 to examine the connection between early life involvement with child protective services and mortality risk.
Researchers followed the participants, 20% of whom had childhood involvement with child protective services (CPS), through to 31 May 2019.
In findings published in Pediatrics, they found that those who had experience with CPS were twice as likely to die during the study period than participants not involved with protective services.
