Disparate plasma cortisol concentrations in sexually abused female children from Johannesburg, South Africa

Current Weight Status of Sexually Assaulted Pediatric Female Patients in an Emergency Department Setting

Background: The relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and childhood obesity (CO) is unclear with studies reporting conflicting results in female populations. This study aims to assess the association between suspected CSA and current emergency department (ED) weight status when compared with trauma patients. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective case-control study that utilized pediatric ED data (2016-2018) from identified female patients (6-17 years old) with a chief complaint of sexual assault and trauma registry patients. Focus was on female patients for literary comparisons. Two weight measurements were calculated based on available height data: BMI-for-age and weight-for-age. Nonparametric testing and binary logistic regression were utilized. Results: There were 2044 study participants: 1454 (71.1%) cases and 590 (28.9%) controls. Cases were older, underrepresented minorities (URMs), and carried public insurance (all p-values <0.001). Using BMI-for-age, patients with a sexual assault complaint had a 67% increased odds for CO after adjusting for age, URM status, and insurance type [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.67 (95% confidence intervals [CIs] 1.07-2.62); p-value = 0.03], whereas the weight-for-age metric increased the aOR odds by 58% [aOR = 1.58 (95% CI 1.14-2.17); p-value = 0.01] when compared with pediatric trauma patients. Similar results were found in a sensitivity analysis using patients matched on age and URM. Conclusion: Our data demonstrated an association between suspected CSA and CO. More research is needed to identify the biopsychosocial implications for this relationship and the potential to augment clinical care.

A Short Form of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children

The purpose of the current study was to develop a short form (SF) of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The TSCC-SF) maintained 29 items, from the original 54 items, in a sample (N = 215) of sexually abused children who were seeking treatment at a child advocacy center. Exploratory factor analysis refined the original measure, and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for best fit for a six-factor, 29-item model. The TSCC-SF evidenced good internal reliability and showed convergent validity with child ratings of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms obtained from the University of California at Los Angeles PTSD Reaction Index. The TSCC-SF has promise as a shorter assessment measure with sexually abused children in numerous settings, including child advocacy centers and pediatric clinics, where efficient screening and assessment are essential for providing the best standard of care.