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Citation
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Vahedi L, Seff I, Meinhart M, Roa AH, Villaveces A, Stark L. Child Abuse Negl. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Violence against children and youth poses public health risks regarding mental health symptoms and substance use. Less studied is the relationship between violence and mental health/substance abuse in the Latin American context. This study explored sex-stratified relationships between violence and mental health/substance use among Colombian youth.
METHODS: We analyzed the 2018 Colombian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey, which collected cross-sectional data from Colombian youth (13-24 years) (n = 2706). Exposure variables were (i) binary sexual, emotional, and physical victimization and (ii) poly-victimization. The outcomes were binary suicidal thoughts, self-harm, past-month psychological distress, binge drinking, smoking, and drug use. Sex-stratified, logistic regressions were adjusted for age, primary school, parental presence, relationship status, and witnessing community violence.
RESULTS: For females, (i) emotional violence (compared to being unexposed) was associated with greater odds of suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and psychological distress and (ii) sexual violence was associated with suicidal thoughts and self-harm. For males, (i) emotional violence (compared to being unexposed) was associated with greater odds of suicidal thoughts and psychological distress, but not self-harm and (ii) sexual violence exposure was associated with suicidal thoughts and self-harm. Physical violence was generally not associated with internalized mental health outcomes for females/males, when emotional and sexual violence were held constant. Poly-victimization was consistently and positively associated with internalized mental health symptoms among females, and to a lesser degree for males. Substance use outcomes for males or females were not associated with violence.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the internalized mental health burden of emotional and sexual violence.
Language: en |