The first national study on non-fatal child abuse and neglect in infants shows that 91,278 children--about 2.3 percent of infants in the U.S.--were neglected or physically, sexually or emotionally abused before age one in 2006.
Almost 40 percent of these infants were mistreated in their first month of life, 7.6 percent in the first week. Most (68.5 percent) of these cases involved neglect, while 13.2 percent were categorized as physical abuse.
The results are especially alarming in light of recent research showing that in addition to an increased risk of substance abuse, eating disorders and other problems, the effects of child abuse also include a heightened sensitivity to pain.
A study on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) appearing in the February 2008 edition of Gastroentology showed that sufferers of the disorder with a history of physical or sexual abuse were more sensitive to painful stimuli than those without a history of abuse. Brain imaging showed that abused patients showed greater activity in regions of the brain connected to sensation and emotion and reduced activity in areas associated with pain inhibition.
REPORT: Nonfatal Maltreatment of Infants --- United States, October 2005--September 2006
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