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The effect of lifetime victimization on the mental health of children and adolescents
- Authors:
- TURNER Heather A., FINKELHOR David, ORMROD Richard
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 62(1), January 2006, pp.13-27.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This paper examines the cumulative prevalence of victimization and its impact on mental health in a nationally representative sample of 2030 children aged 2–17 in the USA. Telephone interviews conducted with both caregivers and youth revealed socio-demographic variations in lifetime exposure to most forms of victimization, with ethnic minorities, those lower in socio-economic status, and those living in single parent and stepfamilies experiencing greater victimization. Sexual assault, child maltreatment, witnessing family violence, and other major violence exposure each made independent contributions to levels of both depression and anger/aggression. Other non-victimization adversities also showed substantial independent effects, while in most cases, each victimization domain remained a significant predictor of mental health. Results suggest that cumulative exposure to multiple forms of victimization over a child's life-course represents a substantial source of mental health risk.
Child mental health problems as risk factors for victimization
- Authors:
- TURNER Heather A., FINKELHOR David, ORMROD Richard
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 15(2), May 2010, pp.132-143.
- Publisher:
- Sage
While a great deal of previous research has focused on the negative effects of child victimisation, little research has been conducted to consider how mental health problems within children may influence their vulnerability to such victimisation. This study, using a national probability sample of 1,467 children aged 2 to 17 years from longitudinal data acquired through the Developmental Victimization Survey, investigated the effects of child internalising and externalising symptoms on increases in victimisation over a 1-year period. Results showed that children with higher levels of co-occurring internalising and externalising symptoms were more likely to have experienced increased exposure to several forms of victimisation, including peer victimisation, maltreatment, and sexual victimisation, when controlling for earlier victimisation and adversity. The relationship of symptoms to victimisation exposure differed across developmental stages. Findings indicated that elementary school children with high levels of symptoms were especially vulnerable to victimisation by peers, whereas distressed children in early adolescence were particularly vulnerable to sexual victimisation. Mental health problems in childhood and adolescence appear to represent important risk factors for increased victimisation. The authors suggest that future interventions might consider targeting children with co-occurring internalising and externalising symptoms during especially vulnerable developmental stages.