Post-traumatic stress problems among poly-victimized Spanish youth: Time effect of past vs. recent interpersonal victimizations

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect Vol. 38; no. 8; pp. 1303 - 1312
• Main Authors: Kirchner, Teresa, Forns, Maria, Soler, Laia, Planellas, Irina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2014; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Analysis of Variance; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - psychology; Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Correlation analysis; Crime Victims - psychology; Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data; Female; Females; Gender differences; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Males; Medical sciences; Pediatrics; Poly-victimization; Post traumatic stress disorder; Post-traumatic stress; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Prevalence; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Schools; Self Report; Sex Distribution; Sex Factors; Spain - epidemiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Teenagers; Time effect on psychological symptoms; Victimology; Victims of Crime; Spain; Barcelona Spain; Adolescence; Gender differences; Time effect on psychological symptoms; Poly-victimization; Post-traumatic stress; Human; Violence; Anxiety disorder; Sex; Victimization; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Gender; Personal experience; Social interaction; Adolescent; Risk factor; Interpersonal relation
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.014

Abstract The cumulative effect of lifetime interpersonal victimization experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, sexual victimizations, conventional crime, witnessing indirect victimization, peer and sibling victimizations) on posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms is an important topic in the scientific literature. The objectives of the present study were: (a) to analyze the relationship between lifetime interpersonal victimizations and PTS symptoms, (b) to determine the most prevalent specific PTS symptoms among poly-victimized adolescents, and (c) to establish the time-based effect of interpersonal victimization experiences that occurred in the last year versus those that occurred years before on current level of PTS symptoms. Gender differences were taken into account for each of these objectives. Participants were 823 Spanish adolescents (63% girls and 37% boys) between 14 and 18 years of age recruited from May 2010 to November 2011 from schools in Barcelona, Spain. The majority (87.6%) was of Spanish nationality. The results highlighted the cumulative effect of interpersonal victimizations on PTS symptoms. Among poly-victims adolescents, the most prevalent PTS symptom was intrusive thoughts, but some differences were observed according to gender. The time-based effect of interpersonal victimizations showed a different pattern for girls and boys. For girls, the victimizing events occurring in past years had more explanatory power of the current PTS symptoms than those that occurred more recently. In boys, the interpersonal victimizing events occurring in the last year had the greater explanatory power. These results may have clinical and therapeutic value.