Child maltreatment is a global public health problem (Klika & Herrenkol, 2013). Children who have experienced maltreatment tend to express greater cortisol dysregulation (De Bellis, Woolley, & Hooper, 2013). Having this worry causes children to express more stress than a child who has not been abused. According to De Bellis, Woolley, and Hooper (2013), pediatric studies have concluded that if a child is abused at a young age and is associated with continued neglect, he or she is more likely to suffer from smaller brain volumes and increased chemicals from biological stress. Exposure to violent trauma leading to PTSD has been shown to cause children to have higher levels of dissociative symptoms and greater behavioral problems (De Bellis, Woolley, & Hooper, 2013). Children tend to imitate behaviors observed by their guardians or parents, and it is likely that at some point a child will express those same behaviors, but most likely in a different way. Being abused can often lead to the same attempted punishment being repeated on the child's future family. There are many mental concerns associated with childhood abuse that can be important factors in the child's future. Some children who have been abused go on to live balanced lives, while others struggle mentally in various aspects of life. An abused child has the possibility of showing symptoms of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, need for social dominance, depression, dissociative identity disorder, as well as suicidal thoughts. Now, while not only abused children develop these various mental challenges, there is increased exposure to these mental illnesses due to childhood trauma. Child abuse has been an ongoing epidemic affecting the… . half of the article ......ip between childhood abuse and suicidality in adult bipolar disorder. Violence and victims, 23(3), 361-372. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.23.3.361 Meyers, John E. B. (2008). Family Law Quarterly. 42(3). http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/insights_law_society/ChildProtectionHistory.authcheckdam.pdfNational Research Council. (2013). Etiology of child maltreatment. Understanding child abuse and neglect. 4, 106-160.Shinozaki, G., Romanowicz, M., Kung, S., & Mrazek, D. A. (2011). A novel interaction between SLC6A4 variation and child abuse is associated with resting heart rate. Depression and Anxiety, 28(3), 227-235. doi:10.1002/da.20779Teisl, M., Rogosch, F. A., Oshri, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2012). Differential expression of social dominance as a function of age and experience of maltreatment. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 575-588. doi:10.1037/a0024888