Perceived Loss of Social Contact and Trauma Symptoms among Adolescents Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse

Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused: Trauma Symptoms and Self-Blame while Waiting for Treatment

OBJECTIVE

Adolescents who have been sexually abused commonly experience trauma symptoms, and many are referred for trauma-based treatment. However, they sometimes spend considerable time on waitlists before beginning treatment. This study examines the course of trauma symptoms among adolescents who have been sexually abused and are waiting for treatment, and the extent to which self-blame for the abuse predicts trauma symptoms at the beginning of treatment.

METHOD

Participants were 127 adolescents (89.0% female, Mage = 13.61 years; 53.2% identified as Hispanic) at a Children's Advocacy Center in the southern United States. All had reported being sexually abused. Participants reported on their trauma symptoms and self-blame appraisals at a screening assessment (T1), and trauma symptoms were re-assessed at the beginning of treatment (T2).

RESULTS

The mean level of trauma symptoms declined over time for the total sample. Regression analyses indicated that greater self-blame for the abuse at T1 was associated with higher levels of trauma symptoms at T2, even when controlling for T1 trauma symptoms and other correlates of T2 trauma symptoms. Higher levels of trauma symptoms at T1 and adolescent sex (female) were also associated with higher levels of trauma symptoms at T2.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that assessing for self-blame for sexual abuse may be important in triage and treatment planning for youth with trauma symptoms after experiencing sexual abuse.

Understanding how peers respond to online child maltreatment disclosures: A qualitative content analysis of family violence discussions on social media

BACKGROUND

Positive, supportive responses to child maltreatment disclosure are critical for victims to receive appropriate resources and support for healing. Young people often prefer to disclose to their peers, frequently on social media platforms.

OBJECTIVE

We assessed young people's use of TalkLife, an online peer-to-peer support platform, to respond to the disclosure of child maltreatment.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 1090 comments on childhood maltreatment-related posts on TalkLife between 2013 and 2020. We used an iterative, team-based qualitative content analysis approach to understand how peers responded to maltreatment disclosure.

FINDINGS

Peer responses tended to be supportive, including asking questions about the abuse and offering advice, emotional support, and other positive responses. Most commonly, peers advised the victim to report, focus on their strengths instead of the abuse, reach out to adults for more support, or confront the perpetrator. On occasion, however, peers began an irrelevant discussion, joked about the situation, or even directly attacked the discloser.

CONCLUSIONS

Learning about child maltreatment disclosures on social media builds the foundation for research to assist in identifying and applying interventions on online platforms. Further, these findings can inform programs that teach how to provide healthy responses to child maltreatment disclosures.

Non-supportive responses to adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse: Relations with self-blame and trauma symptoms

BACKGROUND

Youth who have experienced sexual abuse sometimes also experience non-supportive responses, such as accusations of lying, from people in their family and social environment. Little is known about how such responses from different sources (caregivers, friends, other adults) correlate with one another and operate together in the prediction of youth problematic thinking, such as self-blame, and trauma symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

To better understand how non-supportive responses from different sources relate to one another and contribute to youth problems following sexual abuse.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were 475 youths (M_age = 13.57, SD = 1.77) brought to a children's advocacy center in the southern United States.

METHODS

Participants completed measures of non-supportive responses from caregivers, friends, and other adults. They also completed measures of abuse-specific self-blame and trauma symptoms.

RESULTS

Non-supportive responses from caregivers, friends, and other adults correlated with each other and with abuse-specific self-blame and trauma symptoms (correlations ranged from 0.12 to 0.18; all p values <.001). Results of regression analyses indicated that only non-supportive responses from caregivers contributed independently to abuse-specific self-blame, whereas non-supportive responses from caregivers and friends contributed to trauma symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

In the aftermath of sexual abuse, non-supportive responses from caregivers and friends relate to youth trauma symptoms. Assessing non-supportive responses broadly across the social network can be useful in understanding youth adjustment following sexual abuse.

Characterizing the prevalence and contributing factors of sexual violence: A representative cross-sectional study among school-going adolescents in two East African countries

BACKGROUND

Sexual violence against minors is a global phenomenon with wide-ranging negative consequences. Global reports suggest that it is a particularly serious issue in East African countries, although research on prevalence and characteristics of violence in these countries is scarce.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess sexual violence and its circumstances among Tanzanian and Ugandan adolescents.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Two representative samples of secondary school students aged 12-17 from Tanzania and Uganda (N = 1402) were included in this study.

METHODS

Data assessed using standardized questionnaires were analyzed to determine prevalence, characteristics, and contributing factors of sexual violence among youth.

RESULTS

We found high levels of sexual violence (27.2 %) exceeding global average estimates of under 20 %. Significantly more sexual violence experiences were reported by boys (29.9 %) than girls (24.6 %) and by older compared to younger adolescents (30.2 % vs. 19.6 %). Peers were the most frequent perpetrator group, named by 47.6 % of those reporting abuse. Several potential contributing factors for victimization were identified, such as rural living area, external financial support, and being in a romantic relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Sexual violence is a relevant issue among East African adolescents that occurs in a variety of settings but appears to be most prevalent between peers. Comprehensive sexual education approaches may help to improve the protection of adolescents and to enhance autonomous sexual development.