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Citation
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Holt MK, Felix E, Grimm R, Nylund-Gibson K, Green JG, Poteat VP, Zhang C. Psychol. Violence 2017; 7(4): 521-532. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: The transition to college offers both new opportunities and challenges, and it is important to identify which students might be at greatest risk for adjustment difficulties. To that end, this study examines how victimization before college affects the transition to college, with particular attention to how victimizations group together and how these groups are differentially associated with depression and anxiety.
METHOD: Participants from 4 universities (n = 1,337; 65.0% women) participated in online surveys of college adjustment in the fall of their first year, with 435 also completing surveys in the spring of their first year. Students reported about victimization before college (i.e., peer victimization, dating violence, attempted/completed rape, and child maltreatment), and about their fall and spring depression and anxiety.
RESULTS: Using latent class analysis, results indicated 4 victimization groups existed: Minimal, Peer Victims, Poly (sexual) Victims, and Polyvictims. Broadly, the college students in the 2 polyvictimization groups reported more psychological distress than students in other groups, but there were not significant differences between students in the Minimal or Peer Victim groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the necessity of support and intervention services on college campuses attending to victimization as an indicator of potential maladjustment among first year college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Language: en |