|
Abstract
|
Although adolescents are severely and chronically physically abused, relatively little attention has been directed towards understanding this phenomenon. This study explored the family characteristics and the behavioral-emotional reactions of 77 adolescents who were physically maltreated. The youths were selected at a number of sites including a runaway shelter, a hospital-based child abuse team, and a protective service unit. Six different patterns of adolescent reaction to abuse were identified: acting-out, depression, generalized anxiety, extreme adolescent adjustment, emotional-thought disturbance, and helplessness-dependency. Abuse toward these youth had been ongoing for an average of nearly five years. As there were no differences in family characteristics and emotional-behavioral reactions between subjects who were abused only during adolescence (including single-incident abuse) and subjects for whom family violence was evident from childhood on, the utility of a developmentally specific system of abuse categorization is questioned. It is suggested that it is the pattern of parent and child interaction rather than the course of the maltreatment that is related to the emotional and behavioral dysfunction of the adolescent victim.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The three objectives of this research by Farber and Joseph were to 1) identify individual and family characteristics of adolescent maltreatment, 2) examine the emotional impact of abuse upon the adolescent, and 3) determine whether the nature and onset of maltreatment relates to the individual and family characteristics.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a quasi-experimental study based upon retrospective, self-reported data gathered through interviews of 77 adolescents. The adolescents were referred from a protective service agency (40%), a runaway youth center (31%), a children's hospital child abuse team (20%), and other agencies or self-referred (9%). All adolescents included in the study had been treated over a two-year time period. No control group was used. The interviews consisted of the Conflict Tactics Scale, a structured clinical assessment of the adolescent's behavioral, emotional, and social status, and an assessment of family characteristics and parental history of violence. Two psychology research assistants conducted the clinical assessments. Interrater agreement was 88%. The results were analyzed using principal components analysis. The retained components were rotated using an oblique rotation. One-way analyses of variance and chi-square tests were also done. Abuse in this study was defined as subjects who were beaten, kicked, bit or hit with a fist, or had a knife or gun used against them.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The demographics of the group were as follows: 65% were female, 35% male; 67% were white, 26% black, and 7% biracial; 74% were Protestants, 13% Catholic, and 13% other; 94% of the subjects were still in school, the average grade was 8.7; 18% were employed either full time or part time; the majority were of lower class status; 28% lived with both biological parents, 38% with one biological parent, and 17% with biological and step parents; and, 40% were from broken homes.
The abuse lasted on average of 4.89 years for the group, with the last incident of abuse occurring on average of 1.19 months prior to the study. The perpetrator was most frequently the biological mother (57.1%); the next most common abuser was the biological father (31.2%). Step parents were abusers in only 5.2% of the cases. One-third of the victims had been abused by more than one person; the second abuser was a biological parent in 75% of the cases. Two-thirds of the perpetrators had been abused themselves as children. The maltreatment experienced varied in nature and onset. 9.1% of the adolescents experienced abuse only once. In 50.6% of the cases, the abuse was a change in discipline methods from childhood to adolescence. For 20.8% the abuse was continuous throughout childhood and adolescence, and for 19.5% the abuse began in adolescence. The subject's sex, religion, race, family constellation, socioeconomic status, primary abuser, and abuser's history of maltreatment were not significantly related to the nature or onset of maltreatment. Six unique reaction patterns were identified which had very low intercomponent correlation. The distribution of the adolescents' reaction patterns was: 16.9%-Acting out, 13%-Generalized anxiety, 22.1%-Depression, 15.6%-extreme adolescent adjustment, 11.7%-Emotional thought disorder, 20.8%-Helplessness/dependency. Only one of the reaction patterns, extreme adolescent adjustment, was significantly related to the nature and onset of the subject's maltreatment. Those who were abused once had greater scores than those subjects whose abuse was a change in the discipline methods from childhood to adolescence. The specific reaction patterns exhibited by the subjects were as follows: 70% of the subjects had academic problems, 52% had sleeping problems, 41% had homicidal ideations, 38% had suicidal ideations, 35% had aggressive behaviors, 31% abused drugs, 23% were self-destructive (non-suicidal) behaviors, and 13% had attempted suicide.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors stated that further research which uses a control group for comparison is needed. Adolescents who are unruly or aggressive need to receive the same community support and services that adolescents who are suicidal have. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Abuse Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Child Abuse Trends and Patterns
KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects
KW - Child Physical Abuse Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Child Physical Abuse Trends and Patterns
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Domestic Violence Trends and Patterns
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Victimization Effects
KW - Victimization Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Victimization Trends and Patterns
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Victim Characteristics
Language: en |