NCJ Number
252670
Journal
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Dated: 2018
Date Published
2018
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and externalizing problems emerge and change over time for youth with different profiles of victimization, including polyvictimization.
Abstract
The study conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to identify empirically derived victimization profiles in a sample of 2,776 youth who participated in an evaluation study, and then conducted growth curve analyses to determine whether these victimization profiles predicted change in the course of PTSD symptoms and externalizing problems over a 1-year time period for youth engaged in a variety of community-based services. The LCA revealed three profiles: a low victimization profile defined by relatively low endorsement of victimization across types; a witnessing profile defined by particularly high endorsement of witnessing violence; and a polyvictimization profile defined by high endorsement of multiple types of victimization. Findings indicate that despite differing initial levels of PTSD symptoms and externalizing problems, all three groups' symptoms improved over the year, but the polyvictimization class generally showed the steepest decreases, particularly in caregiver-reported PTSD symptoms. The study concludes that polyvictimized youth participating in community-based services are at increased risk for developing PTSD and externalizing problems, but symptoms appear to decrease to levels similar to other victimized youth after 1 year. (publisher abstract modified)