Profiles and behavioral consequences of child abuse among adolescent girls and boys from Barbados and Grenada

Abstract

The current study used latent class analysis to uncover groups of youths with specific abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual) profiles in and outside the family, and identify how membership in each abuse group is associated with behavioral outcomes. Data were collected among a sample of male (n = 662; M = 13.02 years) and female (n = 689; M = 12.95 years) children and adolescents (9-17 years old) from Barbados and Grenada. Self-report surveys were completed by participants in school settings. Three latent classes of child abuse were distinguished among boys, including 'low abuse' (39.2% of the sample), 'physical and emotional abuse high outside/medium in the family' (43.2%), and 'high overall abuse' (17.6%). Among girls, four unique classes were recovered: 'low abuse' (40.7%), 'high physical and emotional abuse outside the family' (7.6%), 'high emotional and moderate physical abuse' (33.9%), and 'high overall abuse' (17.8%). Compared with members of low abuse groups, youths who reported having experienced high/moderate levels of various forms of violence, including those who were abused in multiple ways and across the two settings ('high overall abuse'), were significantly more likely to engage in violent and hostile behavior. Abused and non-abused youths did not differ on non-violent conflict resolution skills. The significance of present findings for future research and practice is discussed.

Child Maltreatment in Western China: Demographic Differences and Associations with Mental Health

“…Consistent with some studies in this field that used one or two items to measure child maltreatment [19,25,26,27], we used one item with a yes/no response option to assess each type of maltreatment. The children were asked if they had ever experienced (1) physical abuse, such as corporal punishment; (2) emotional abuse, such as shame or intimidation; (3) sexual abuse, such as indecent assault or sexual harassment; and (4) neglect, such as with their ideas or opinions ignored.…”

Females have more complex patterns of childhood adversity: implications for mental, social, and emotional outcomes in adulthood

“…relationship status, educational achievement, employment status, income level, psychological wellbeing, and loneliness) in adulthood. Based on existing findings that the frequency and patterns of exposure to ACEs differs by sex (Debowska, Boduszek, Sherretts, Willmott, & Jones, 2018; McAnee et al, 2019), we hypothesized that distinct profiles of ACEs would be identified for males and females. Additionally, based on an extensive literature showing that polyvictimization, or exposure to multiple different types of victimizations during childhood (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Turner, 2007), increases risk for psychosocial problems in later life (Charak et al, 2016;Hovens, Giltay, Spinhoven, van Hemert, & Penninx, 2015), we hypothesized that profiles characterized by multiple different ACE events would be associated with poorer mental health and social and emotional wellbeing outcomes in adulthood.…”

Child Sexual Abuse as Lifespan Trauma Within the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Caribbean Women

“…In the present study, women's experiences of IPV were exacerbated because of a high level of tolerance for violence against women and girls within their families and communities and, the acceptance of early sexualization. This link between violence victimization in childhood and violence acceptance is confirmed through research on attitudes and exposure to abuse among 1400 children in Barbados and Grenada (Debowska et al, 2018) and studies on the prevalence of interpersonal violence (Le Franc et al, 2008). Furthermore, Barrow and Ince (2008) demonstrate that sexual exploitation is strongly associated with children becoming sexually active at a young age.…”