Grant: Operating Grant: Data Analysis Using Existing CDN Databases and Cohorts

Child maltreatment (i.e., child abuse and neglect) is a major public health problem that is associated with poor health not only in childhood and adolescence, but also across the lifespan. It is estimated that every year, millions of children are abused and neglected worldwide. Research from our team has found that 32% of the general population in Canada reported experiencing child abuse including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or exposure to violence in the home. Findings from our study have furthered knowledge on the size and scope of child abuse in Canada and informed decisions for health care providers and policy makers. What is currently unknown is if youth with child maltreatment histories compared to those without a child maltreatment history are less likely to access health care for physical health problems, have greater perceived needs for physical health treatments without seeking care, and experience greater barriers to care for physical health needs. We also do not know if differences in access to physical health care, perceived needs for physical health treatments, and barriers to physical health care are different based on province of residence, sex (i.e., biological assignment at birth), gender (i.e., socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people), and sexual identity (i.e., a person's physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction). Therefore, the aims of the current proposal are to understand access to physical health care, perceived needs for physical health care without seeking treatment, and barriers to physical health care among youth aged 15 to 22 years old in Canada with and without a child maltreatment history, to determine if differences in help-seeking, perceived needs, and barriers to care exist based on current province of residence, and if sex, gender, and sexual identity moderate or change these relationships using nationally representative Canadian data.