NCJ Number
248081
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2014 Pages: 1290-1302
Date Published
August 2014
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Using interviews and a questionnaire, 2,500 Swedish young adults (20-24 years old) provided detailed reports on multiple types of lifetime victimizations and current health and behaviors.
Abstract
The study found that it was more common to be victimized in adolescence than in childhood, and it was more common to be victimized more than once (poly-victimization) than on a single occasion. Poly-victimization was similarly prevalent among both males and females; however, males and females were victimized in different ways regarding physical and verbal victimization, neglect, witnessing violence, and property crime. Being victimized physically, witnessing violence, and property crimes were significantly more common among males than females; whereas, being victimized verbally, sexually, or by neglect was significantly more common among females. Data are also provided on where the various types of victimization occurred and the perpetrators of the various types of victimization. Mental health and behavioral problems were generally, with a few exceptions, overrepresented among those who had been victimized by any of the six types of victimization that were the study's focus. This was true for anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and self-harm among both males and females. Depression was significantly overrepresented in both males and females among those who had been verbally victimized. Among females, but not males, depression was also significantly overrepresented among those who had been victimized by any other type of victimization. For both males and females, criminality was significantly overrepresented among those who had been victimized by any of the six types of victimization. 6 tables and 46 references