Depression, Anxiety, and Symptom Profiles Among Female and Male Victims of Sexual Violence

Abstract

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem that has been associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes. Few existing studies have examined the prevalence and patterns of adverse mental health among victims of sexual violence using data from nationally representative samples of U.S. adults. The main objectives of this study were to identify patterns in the associations between sexual violence victimization and depression and anxiety (DA) symptoms using data from the sexual violence and DA Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) modules. Stratified multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to test the associations between sexual violence victimization and DA controlling for demographic characteristics. Multiple stratified MANOVA models were used to detect the effect of sexual violence victimization on DA symptoms while controlling for key demographic characteristics. Among all 61,187 participants, more than 5% (n = 3,240) were victims of sexual violence, out of which 18.82% reported being diagnosed with depression, 8.37% reported an anxiety disorder, and 28.28% reported being diagnosed with DA disorder. Victims of sexual violence reported significantly higher number of days when they had trouble concentrating, sleep difficulties, poor appetite, little interest or pleasure in activities, blamed themselves for personal failure, felt depressed, and had little energy. The present study highlights the importance of collecting nationally representative data from victims of sexual violence and extends previous findings from clinically based studies. This study also serves as an example of an analytic approach that addresses a public health priority area by drawing on data from multiple topic-specific BRFSS modules.

Sexual Violence against Women in Germany: Prevalence and Risk Markers

“…Experiencing gender-based violence can have tremendous consequences for the survivor’s mental and physical functioning, increasing the risks of poor health in general and of certain conditions, such as depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and chronic pain in particular [1,2,3]. Research has consistently demonstrated that sexual violence victimizations are in fact not an exception, but do affect a considerable proportion of women in any given population [4,5].…”

“…Basically, sexual violence victimizations can happen to everybody [2,4,5,22]—although women are definitely at a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence in their lives as compared to men [6,23]. However, previous research has identified certain individual and contextual factors associated with an increased risk of becoming a survivor of sexual violence.…”

Sexual Aggression Victimization and Perpetration among Male and Female College Students in Chile

“…It is a major problem worldwide (WHO, 2013), associated with a wide range of negative effects on survivors' wellbeing (Martin et al, 2011; Choudhary et al, 2012). Studies demonstrating the high prevalence of sexual aggression as reported by victims and perpetrators have been conducted primarily in Western countries (Fisher et al, 2010; Krahé et al, 2014, for reviews).…”

Vulnerable and without protection: Lifetime experiences of abuse and its influence on mental ill health

“…Another well-known fact is the association between ex-perience of violence and mental ill health [11][12][13][14][15]. Mental ill health is an overarching definition including mental disorders and milder psychological problems or distresses which generate personal suffering but not necessarily a psychiatric diagnosis [16].…”