Economic and Social Reports
What do we know about physical and non-physical childhood maltreatment in Canada?

Previous studies have found that child maltreatment is associated with poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes later in life (Afifi et al., 2014, 2016; Badley et al., 2019; Brennenstuhl & Fuller-Thomson, 2015; England-Mason et al., 2018; Fuller-Thomson et al., 2015; Martin et al., 2016; Meng & D’Arcy, 2016; Osland et al., 2018; Pinto Pereira et al., 2017). In Canada, national-level estimates have primarily focused on physical types of child maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse), while less is known about non-physical types of maltreatment (e.g., emotional abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence, physical neglect^Note ). For example, findings from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health component (2012 CCHS – Mental Health) revealed that physical abuse was the most prevalent type of childhood maltreatment experienced (26%), followed by sexual abuse (10%), and exposure to intimate partner violence (7%) (Afifi et al., 2014). However, more recent results from the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) – Canadians’ Safety revealed that 62% of respondents experienced “harsh parenting”^Note (e.g., spanking, emotional abuse, physical neglect), while 22% experienced physical abuse; 21% were exposed to physical violence committed by a parent or step-parent or guardian against another parent or guardian, caregiver, adult or child;^Note and 6% experienced sexual abuse (Cotter, 2021). The differences in the prevalence of specific types of childhood maltreatment between the findings from the 2012CCHS – Mental Health and 2019 GSS – Canadians’ Safety suggest that the exclusion of non-physical types of childhood maltreatment is a significant limitation of existing research, and more information is needed to reach a better understanding of child maltreatment in Canada.

This analysis uses data from the 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS), which captures information on experiences of gender-based violence, feelings of safety in various places (e.g., at home, at work, online, in public), and abuse over the lifetime. The 2018 SSPPS employed retrospective reporting to collect information from individuals aged 15 years and older about their experiences of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence, and physical neglect before they were 15 years old (Statistics Canada, 2018).^Note Using these data, this analysis examines the percentage of individuals living in Canada who reported experiencing no maltreatment, only non-physical types of maltreatment (e.g., emotional abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence and/or physical neglect), only physical types of child maltreatment (e.g., physical and/or sexual abuse), or both non-physical and physical child maltreatment. Since children who are abused often experience multiple types of maltreatment, and the effects of non-physical maltreatment can be “just as severe and long-lasting” as the effects of physical types of maltreatment (Hornor, 2012: 438), this study provides new information about the occurrence and co-occurrence of different types of child maltreatment. The findings provide new national-level information about the types of maltreatment individuals living in Canada experienced during childhood, with results disaggregated by sex at birth, age group and region of birth.^Note

Overall, about 6 in 10 individuals reported experiencing some type of child maltreatment before they were 15 years old (59.7%). Chart 1 below presents the different types of maltreatment experienced by respondents. Notably, nearly one-third of individuals reported experiencing only non-physical child maltreatment (32.3%), followed by over 2 in 10 who reported experiencing both non-physical and physical maltreatment (23.3%). Experiencing only physical maltreatment was the least prevalent type of child maltreatment reported (4.1%).

Data table for Chart 1



Data Table Chart 1
Self-reported types of child maltreatment in Canada, 2018 (n = 43,064)
Table summary
This table displays the results of Self-reported types of child maltreatment in Canada. The information is grouped by Child maltreatment types (appearing as row headers), Percent and 95% confidence interval (appearing as column headers).

Child maltreatment types	Percent	95% confidence interval
		lower	upper
No child maltreatment	40.3	39.9198	40.6802
Non-physical only	32.3	31.9198	32.6802
Physical only	4.1	3.9492	4.2508
Both non-physical and physical	23.3	22.9798	23.6202
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, 2018.

Further examination of those who reported experiencing non-physical types of child maltreatment revealed that 98.7% of individuals experienced emotional abuse, 21.3% were exposed to intimate partner violence and 6.8% were neglected in childhood at least once before the age of 15. ^{Note Note Note}

To reach a better understanding of how child maltreatment may differ by demographic characteristics, results are disaggregated by sex at birth, age group and region of birth in Table 1. Generally, females (63.0%) were more likely to report experiencing child maltreatment than males (56.3%). However, sex differences varied by type of abuse. Females were more likely than males to report experiencing only non-physical maltreatment (34.7% and 29.9%, respectively), as well as both non-physical and physical maltreatment (24.7% and 21.8%, respectively). In contrast, males were more likely to report experiencing only physical maltreatment compared with females, although this difference was small (4.6% and 3.6%, respectively).



Similar to previous research examining physical abuse in childhood by birth cohort (Hango, 2017), the results show that younger individuals were less likely to report experiencing only physical maltreatment compared with most older age groups. For example, 1.9% of those aged 15 to 29 reported experiencing only physical maltreatment compared with about 6% of those aged 60 to 69 and 70 to 79. However, younger individuals were more likely to report only non-physical maltreatment compared with older individuals. Over 4 in 10 individuals aged 15 to 29 reported they experienced only non-physical maltreatment before the age of 15 (43.1%) compared with about one-quarter of those aged 60 to 69 (24.2%) and 70 to 79 (25.3%). Across age groups, the highest proportions of individuals who experienced both physical and non-physical types of maltreatment were in the middle age groups—28.0% of those aged 40 to 49 and 26.9% of those aged 50 to 59.

Results for region of birth^Note indicated that, overall, individuals born outside of Canada represented the lowest proportion of individuals who reported experiencing any type of child maltreatment (53.4%). Among individuals born in Canada, rates of experiencing any type of maltreatment before the age of 15 ranged between 55.7% for those born in the Atlantic provinces to 69.5% for those born in British Columbia. With the exception of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, more than 6 in 10 individuals across all regions reported experiencing some type of child maltreatment.

Across regions of birth, the greatest variation was observed for those who experienced only non-physical maltreatment, and both physical and non-physical maltreatment. Among those born in Canada, individuals born in Quebec represented the lowest proportion of those who reported experiencing only non-physical maltreatment (29.9%), while those born in Alberta represented the highest proportion (37.7%); a lower proportion of individuals born outside Canada reported this type of maltreatment (27.3%). Generally, lower proportions of individuals reported experiencing both types of child maltreatment compared with only non-physical maltreatment across all regions. Among the Canadian-born population, between 20.9% (Quebec) and 28.8% (British Columbia) reported experiencing both physical and non-physical maltreatment, with just over 2 in 10 individuals born outside Canada reporting this type of abuse (21.7%).

Lastly, less variation was observed across regions of birth for those who experienced only physical maltreatment, with all regions in Canada ranging between 3.1% (British Columbia) and 5.1% (Quebec). A similar proportion of individuals born outside Canada reported experiencing only physical maltreatment before the age of 15 (4.4%).

In summary, over half of Canadians reported experiencing only non-physical maltreatment or both physical and non-physical maltreatment before the age of 15. These results indicate that the measurement of non-physical types of maltreatment is important for obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of child maltreatment in Canada. Moreover, the extent to which individuals reported experiencing different types of child maltreatment differed by sociodemographic characteristics such as sex at birth and age group, suggesting that some groups may be at greater risk of experiencing certain types of child maltreatment.

References

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Afifi, T. O., MacMillan, H. L., Boyle, M., Taillieu, T., Cheung, K., & Sareen, J. (2014). Child abuse and mental disorders in Canada. CMAJ, 186(9), E324-E332. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.131792

Afifi, T.O., Taillieu, T., Cheung, K., Katz, L., Tonmyr, L., & Sareen, J. (2015). Substantiated reports of child maltreatment from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: Examining child and household characteristics and functional impairment. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 60(7), 315-323.

Badley, E., Shields, M., O’Donnell, S., Hovdestad, W., & Tonmyr, L. (2019). Childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for arthritis: Findings from a population‐based survey of Canadian adults. Arthritis Care & Research, 71(10), 1366-1371. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.23776

Brennenstuhl, S., & Fuller‐Thomson, E. (2015). The painful legacy of childhood violence: Migraine headaches among adult survivors of adverse childhood experiences. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 55(7), 973-983. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.12614

Cotter, A. (2021). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2019. Juristat, 41(1), 1-37. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-eng.htm

England-Mason, G., Casey, R., Ferro, M., MacMillan, H. L., Tonmyr, L., & Gonzalez, A. (2018). Child maltreatment and adult multimorbidity: Results from the Canadian Community Health Survey. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 109(4), 561-572. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-018-0069-y

Fuller-Thomson, E., West, K. J., Sulman, J., & Baird, S. L. (2015). Childhood maltreatment is associated with ulcerative colitis but not Crohn’s disease: Findings from a population-based study. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 21(11), 2640-2648. https://doi.org/10.1097/MIB.0000000000000551

Hango, D. (2017). Childhood physical abuse: Differences by birth cohort. Insights on Canadian Society. Catalogue no. 75-006-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Hornor, G. (2012). Emotional maltreatment. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 26(6), 436-442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2011.05.004

Martin, M. S., Dykxhoorn, J., Afifi, T. O., & Colman, I. (2016). Child abuse and the prevalence of suicide attempts among those reporting suicide ideation. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(11), 1477-1484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1250-3

Meng, X., & D’Arcy, C. (2016). Gender moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and internalizing and substance use disorders later in life: A cross-sectional analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-1071-7

Osland, S., Arnold, P., & Pringsheim, T. (2018). The prevalence of diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder and associated comorbidities: A population-based Canadian study. Psychiatry Research, 268, 137-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.07.018

Pinto Pereira, S. M., Li, L., & Power, C. (2017). Child maltreatment and adult living standards at 50 years. Pediatrics, 139(1): e20161595. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1595

Statistics Canada (2018). Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces: Detailed information for 2018. https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5256