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Is one in three Canadians really a victim of child abuse and at risk of mental illness?

When it comes to parenting, there is a question that many ask themselves... do I spank my kids or not? It used to be a common practice, but now doctors say there could be some lingering effects.

A new study that concludes one in three Canadians has been subjected to child abuse is already generating controversy.

The research, based on an extensive survey and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also found an "association" with 14 different mental-health problems, including suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide.

No sooner had the report hit the media when National Post columnist Barbara Kay began heaping scorn on both the results and premise of the study Wednesday for stoking "moral panic" in much the same way as groups who claim universities foster "rape culture."

The study looked at data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey on mental health covering all 10 provinces and involving more than 23,000 adults.

The study found 32 per cent reported experiencing three types of child abuse (physical, sexual and exposure to intimate-partner violence). Researchers found a correlation between all three types of abuse and all types of mental conditions. The greater the exposure to abuse experienced by survey respondents, the greater the odds they suffered from a mental condition, the study found.

Manitoba had the highest rate of child abuse according to the study, at 40 per cent, while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest rate at 21 per cent.

"We found robust associations between child abuse and mental conditions," the study's abstract concluded. "Health care providers, especially those assessing patients with mental health problems, need to be aware of the relation between specific types of child abuse and certain mental conditions.

"Success in preventing child abuse could lead to reductions in the prevalence of mental disorders, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts."

[ Related: Ontario couple convicted of murder in child abuse death ]

“I know that the general public will be surprised with this number,” Tracie Afifi, the study's lead author, told the Post. “But as a child maltreatment researcher, this is what we were thinking it would be around, 30 per cent."

Afifi, professor of Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, said the figures jibe with previous studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada. But this is the first nationally representative study on child abuse and mental disorders, CTV News noted.

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that abuse suffered as a child can affect a person in adulthood, from a propensity to alcohol and drug abuse to acting out violently or simply not functioning well in society.

The study's authors were careful to say they the data does not prove a causal connection but the article strongly suggested there could be one.

"It may be that for some people, a direct relation does exist between child abuse and mental disorders," the article said, according to CBC News. "It may also be the case that behavioural issues for some children could be associated with mental disorders and that behavioural problems could increase the likelihood of child abuse."

The survey screened out respondents who reported a single instance of abuse. Still, deciding what constitutes child abuse can be difficult, said one expert.

“It does get to be tricky territory because the question gets to be how serious is it?” Brad McKenzie, a professor emeritus in the department of social work at the University of Manitoba, told the Post.

For instance, open-handed spanking is still legal in Canada (no belts, wooden spoons or other implements are allowed). The Post also said an expanded definition of intimate-partner violence – defined as hearing or seeing caregivers hitting each other or another adult – has also significantly increased the rate of refers to child-protection services.

[ Related: 'Swirl Face' pedophile faces 10 new child abuse charges in B.C. ]

But the Post's Barbara Kay probably embodies the disbelief that will greet this study in some quarters. Kay said she was astounded to discover that under the study's parameters, she was both a child-abuse victim and an abuser.

"Forgive the sarcasm and the attendant skepticism it represents, but this would not be the first study to ring alarm bells on an alleged epidemic of abuse," Kay wrote Wednesday.

"Rape culturists believe one in four university coeds is sexually assaulted on campus; so-called domestic violence experts tell us one in three women will be the victim of intimate partner violence; and now here we go again with child abuse."

The problem, she argued, is a lowering of the bar for what constitutes abuse – "dumbing down," she calls it. That's led to more children being taken into care.

"Physical abuse is no longer the primary reason children are removed from parental care in Canada," Kay wrote, adding a 2005 study found only 10 per cent of substantial maltreatment cases involve physical harm to children.

That should ring alarm bells, she said.

"The definition of abuse has drifted away from physical harm into subjective realms because the vast majority of students in the 'soft' sciences of sociology, psychology and child pedagogy are dominated by ideologically inspired curricula in which theories of social engineering capable of producing utopian outcomes permeate the discourse and texts to which these students are continually exposed."

Utopianism hates human imperfection, said Kay, and a belief that "experts" can work to eliminate people's flaws.

"Creating definitions that indict a full third of Canadians as abusers or victims points to an unrealistic understanding of human nature and human limitations," wrote Kay.

"This study is easy to mock, but there is nothing funny about its potential ramifications."