Echo / Getty Images
+Child Development | April 24, 2012

How Bullying and Abuse May Age Children Prematurely

By Alice Park

A hard life can age you, literally, researchers say. In fact, children who are exposed to violence at a young age show changes in their DNA equivalent to several years of premature aging.

+Behavior | April 23, 2012

‘Shock’ School Trial: Where Is the Evidence that Abuse Helps Treat Autism?

By Maia Szalavitz

The video is brutal: a young man, pinned face down in four-point restraints, receiving 31 electric shocks over the course of several hours that convulse his body with pain. But this is not Guantánamo or Syria.

+Childhood | February 20, 2012

Kids Who Don’t Gender Conform Are at Higher Risk of Abuse

By Alexandra Sifferlin
Getty Images

Swapping gender roles is common in childhood play, but a new study finds that non-conforming kids are at risk for physical and sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress.

+Adolescence | July 12, 2011

Students Sue ‘Troubled Teen’ School for Systematic Sexual, Emotional Abuse

By Maia Szalavitz
George Doyle / Stockbyte / Getty Images

Nine former students of Mount Bachelor Academy, a now-defunct school in Oregon for “troubled teens,” have filed a $14.25-million lawsuit against the school for emotional, sexual and physical abuse.

+Trauma | June 15, 2011

Boys Who Bully May Be More Likely to Become Abusive Men

By Meredith Melnick
Henry King / Photonica / Getty Images

Schoolyard bullies may be more likely to perpetrate physical or sexual abuse against their wives or partners when they grow up, according to a recent study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine.

+Behavior | March 22, 2011

Fan Rage: How Home Team Losses Contribute to Domestic Violence

By Alice Park
Jonah Light

Any diehard football fan can relate to post-loss blues — when your beloved team is outscored by a rival, it’s hard to keep your spirits up or put on a happy face after the game.

+Numbers | January 6, 2011

1.2 million

Number of emergency room visits resulting from the abuse or misuse of prescription drugs in 2009, compared with 627,000 such visits in 2004, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For more, see TIME's coverage of prescription drug addiction. [via The New York Times]

+Numbers | December 17, 2010

59%

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that 9% of American adults reported five or more adverse childhood experiences (ACE). ACEs have been linked to a range of adverse health outcomes in adulthood, including substance abuse, depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and premature mortality. Read the full report here.

+Women's Health | April 13, 2010

Many abused women view partners as “dependable”

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

In spite of physical, sexual or psychological abuse, many women in abusive relationships with men continue to view their partners as dependable, and some describe them as having positive traits such as being affectionate, according to a new study conducted by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and Adelphi University in Garden City, New [...]

+Mental Health | August 11, 2009

Neurological clues to how alcoholics process emotion

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Alcoholics’ brains may process emotion differently than those of people who don’t have a history of alcohol abuse, according to a study published in the November issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. There is ample research analyzing how alcoholics tend to process emotion distinctly and with a range of behaviors—often misinterpreting nonverbal [...]