Citation

Schlack R, Ravens-Sieberer U, Petermann F. J. Adolesc. 2013; 36(3): 587-601.

Affiliation

Robert Koch Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Health Reporting, General-Pape-Strasse 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: schlackr@rki.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.03.006

PMID

23582650

Abstract

This study investigates self-rated mental health in terms of psychological problems, protective factors and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (n=6813) aged 11-17 involved in violence with varying frequency. Using MANCOVA and ANCOVA, youth with single and multiple histories of violent victimisation and violence perpetration were contrasted with non-involved comparisons. The results show that even low levels of violence involvement were associated with more problems, fewer protective factors and impaired HRQOL. Multiply victimised youth - not perpetrating victims - stood out with internalising, peer and hyperactivity/inattention problems. Discriminant function analysis separated non-involved from violence-affected youth, and multiply victimised from not multiply victimised youth. Externalising behaviours, family issues, male sex and school functioning predicted group separation on the first function (proportion variance explained 80.0%), while internalising and peer issues were predictive for the second function (PVE 14.2%). Implications for prevention, intervention and research are discussed.

Language: en