Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Eliminating Sexual Violence Could Reduce Poor Mental Health Among Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

The prevalence of serious mental health problems among 17-year-olds could drop by as much as 16.8% for girls and 8.4% for boys if they were not subjected to sexual violence, such as sexual assault and harassment, according to estimates from UCL researchers.

The new research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, uses information from 9,971 young people born across the UK in 2000-02, who are being followed by the Millennium Cohort Study. At the age of 17, just over 1,000 girls and 260 boys reported they had experienced sexual assault or an unwelcome sexual approach in the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that rates of two serious mental health problems—severe psychological distress and self-harm—were higher, on average, among victims than among those who did not report experiencing sexual assault or harassment by at this age. This was true even when taking into account a wide range of other factors known to affect teenagers' risk of experiencing sexual violence and mental ill health.

The authors calculated that in a hypothetical scenario where sexual assault and harassment were eliminated, rates of self-harm among teenage girls might drop by 16.8%—from the current level of 28.9% in a world with these forms of sexual violence to 24% (a five-percentage point reduction) in a world without. Additionally, high levels of psychological distress might drop by 14% (22.6% vs. 19.5%).

Among boys, the researchers anticipated rates of self-harm could drop by 8.4% (20.3% vs. 18.6%) and severe psychological distress by 3.7% (10.2% vs. 9.8%) if sexual assault and harassment were eradicated.

The authors noted several limitations of their study. Sexual violence is known to be underreported, and the authors recognize that teenagers with and without serious mental health problems may differ in their likelihood of reporting such experiences.

Finally, as this is an observational study, the authors noted the challenges in establishing cause and effect. The study makes use of very detailed data to account for a wide range of factors that may have influenced the link between experiences of sexual assault and harassment and serious mental health problems. However, it would be impossible to rule out with certainty the influence of every possible factor.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-sexual-violence-poor-mental-health.html

Study Reveals the Lasting Effects Childhood Trauma Has on Adult Relationships

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on ScienceAlert.

An ongoing study among more than 2,000 adults in the Netherlands has found childhood maltreatment is associated with lower quality relationships later in life.

Past research has also found childhood abuse or neglect can lead to insecure attachment patterns in adulthood, but the current study goes further and suggests these issues arise primarily from severe depression associated with that childhood trauma.

The large cohort has been tracked for nearly a decade already.

Similar to previous findings, the authors found respondents with a history of maltreatment also had more severe depression and anxiety.

These individuals reported lower quality relationships and higher levels of insecure attachment, including anxious attachment – exemplified by extreme levels of intimacy with low levels of autonomy – and avoidant attachment – exemplified by high levels of autonomy and discomfort with intimacy.

The findings largely align with research showing childhood abuse or neglect can have lingering effects on a person's health and wellbeing later in life.

The study was published in Child Abuse & Neglect.

Source: ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/large-9-year-study-reveals-the-lingering-effects-of-childhood-trauma-on-adult-well-being

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Twice as Likely to Have Poorer Health

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on MedicalXpress.

A new study has found up to half of all children with language difficulties and mental and physical health problems have been exposed to intimate partner violence, prompting calls for health and social care services to provide more effective identification and early intervention.

The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, showed children exposed to intimate partner violence from infancy were twice as likely to have a psychiatric diagnosis, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and impaired language skills at age 10. They were also more likely to have asthma and sleep problems.

The study also found that children exposed to intimate partner violence in the year they turned 10 were two to three times more likely to experience poor mental health, elevated blood pressure, and sleep difficulties. But with the exception of language difficulties and asthma, child health outcomes at age 10 were not affected if their only exposure to intimate partner violence occurred before they turned five.

The research involved 1507 first-time mothers and their first-born children. Women were recruited to the study from six public maternity hospitals in Melbourne. More than one in four women and children in the study were exposed to intimate partner violence during the first 10 years after the child's birth.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-children-exposed-intimate-partner-violence.html

Abuse in Childhood and Adolescence Linked to Higher Likelihood of Conduct Problems

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on EurekAlert.

Children who are exposed to abuse before they are eleven years old and those exposed to abuse both in childhood and adolescence may be more likely to develop conduct problems (such as bullying or stealing) than those exposed to abuse in adolescence only and those who are not exposed to abuse, according to a study published in the open-access journal BMC Psychiatry.

A team of researchers at the Universities of Bath and Bristol examined data on 13,793 children and adolescents (51.6% boys), who were followed from ages four to 17 years, included in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a cohort of children born in South-West England in the early 1990s.

Andreas Bauer, the lead author said: "Conduct problems refer to antisocial behaviors in childhood and/or adolescence, such as fighting, bullying, lying or stealing. They are associated with various negative outcomes, including mental and physical health problems, and it is important to understand their possible causes and to develop effective prevention and intervention programs."

From the children included in this study, the authors identified three groups who developed elevated levels of conduct problems. There was an early-onset persistent group who developed conduct problems in childhood which continued into adolescence (4.8% of the sample), an adolescence-onset group who developed conduct problems in adolescence (4.5%), and a childhood-limited group who developed conduct problems in childhood only (15.4%). The majority of children (75.3%) did not develop serious conduct problems.

Andreas Bauer said: "We assessed whether abuse was more common in the backgrounds of these three groups than in those who did not develop conduct problems. Our findings showed that abuse was more common in the early-onset persistent group who showed conduct problems in childhood and adolescence, and also in the adolescence-onset group who developed conduct problems in adolescence."

Source: EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/bc-aic031121.php

Report Uncovers Dramatic Spike in Children Abusing Parents During Pandemic

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on StudyFinds.

The coronavirus lockdowns around the world have sparked fears that many people may be living in quarantine with violent partners or spouses. A new study reveals a different disturbing pattern growing in isolation: young children abusing their parents.

Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Manchester find this “hidden” problem is intensifying during the pandemic, with the number of violent episodes skyrocketing by 70 percent.

The study of more than 100 families and 47 social workers reveals many moms and dads believe the months-long quarantine is making already volatile homes even more unstable. Parents say being confined at home is creating a “cabin fever effect.” For some, this “pressure cooker” environment leads to violent outbursts.

Researchers say social workers are reporting a 69-percent uptick in referrals for families suffering child or adolescent-to-parent violence (C/APV). More than 60 percent of the social workers believe the severity of these violent incidents is increasing too.

Study authors point to the major changes in the daily routines of millions as a trigger for this behavior. With schools and in-person services closing due to COVID-19, researchers say family problems have been building even before the virus became a legitimate concern for many communities.

The study appears in the August 2020 report Experiences of adolescent to parent violence in the COVID-19 lockdown.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/children-abusing-parents-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

U.S. ERs See Doubling of Teen Sexual Abuse Cases

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Sexually abused youths are turning more often to U.S. emergency departments for help, a new study finds.

Among youths ages 12-17, emergency department admissions for sexual abuse more than doubled from 2010 to 2016, even as rates of sexual abuse showed a decline, researchers found.

Rates in other child age groups remained the same, according to the Saint Louis University study.

"I was surprised," said study lead author Jesse Helton, an assistant professor of social work in the university's College for Public Health and Social Justice.

"The thing to know is that sexual abuse rates, in general, have been dropping for the last 20 years. What we're seeing here is that more cases are being seen in emergency departments," Helton said in a university news release.

The analysis of national data showed that 85% of the emergency department admissions for cases of confirmed sexual abuse in this age group involved girls and 15% of the cases involved boys.

The study data couldn't explain the sharp rise in emergency department admission rates, but the authors suggested several reasons.

They include increased awareness and willingness to report abuse, and better coordination with law enforcement and forensic teams.

"While the data can't tell us why, we do know that there's been an increase in coordination between the medical profession, courts, and forensic teams. There's been increased efforts to ensure that rape kits are properly handled. There's an awareness that in the court system if evidence is presented, cases can be handled more quickly," Helton said.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/sexual-health-information-32/abuse-and-rape-news-604/u-s-ers-see-doubling-of-teen-sexual-abuse-cases-751868.html

Teen Sexting Often Tied to Past Sexual Abuse

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Teens who share sexually explicit texts or emails -- "sexters" -- are more likely to have suffered sexual abuse than their peers, recent survey results suggest.

For some teenagers, "sexting may be a part of normal sexual development," said study lead author Dr. Kanani Titchen.

But for others, it "may be an indicator of an unhealthy romantic relationship or a history of sexual abuse," said Titchen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City.

The research team surveyed nearly 600 teens living in a high-poverty area of the Bronx in New York City.

"We found that approximately 25 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys between the ages of 14 and 17 years old had ever sent a sexually suggestive or naked picture by text or email," Titchen said.

Teens who sexted were also more likely to have had sex, she added.

"These two findings were not surprising, and are consistent with findings from previous studies of sexting among teens," Titchen said.

But girls who said they'd been sexually abused or victimized by an intimate partner were four and three times more likely, respectively, to have sexted than other girls, she said.

And boys who had been sexually abused or victimized were twice as likely to say they'd exchanged sexual messages or images.

The study also indicated that while girls and boys send sexts at similar rates, girls are about three times more likely to feel pressured to sext.

The findings "suggest that in urban, high-poverty communities like the Bronx, teen sexting may be part of a continuum of abusive and exploitative sexual experience for both girls and boys," Titchen said.

Participants were recruited in hospital clinic waiting rooms. Just over a third were boys. Almost 60 percent were Hispanic, and more than one-quarter were black.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/health-technology-information-18/cellphone-health-news-729/teen-sexting-often-tied-to-past-sexual-abuse-733730.html

Teen Athletes at Increased Risk for Medication Misuse

Teen athletes derive many positive benefits from participating in sports, but their increased risk of sports-related injuries may also heighten their risk for medication misuse and abuse, especially for boys, finds a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Nearly 7.5 million adolescents take part in sports at the high school level and 2 million high school athletic injuries occur each year.

"We should expect that adolescents who participate in competitive sports at the interscholastic level are at a greater risk to get injured and, subsequently, be more likely to be prescribed opioids to manage pain," said lead researcher Philip Veliz, Ph.D., of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The study, which followed 1,540 teens, showed that male athletes were more likely to use and misuse opioids medications on at least one occasion in the past year than non-athlete males. However, said Veliz, "one surprise was that female athletes were not more likely to be prescribed these medications or misuse them."

Male athletes may be more likely to be prescribed opioid medication because they are more likely to play sports such as wrestling and football, which have the highest rate of severe injury among high school sports. But their misuse and abuse of the medications may also have something to do with the role that sports play in the lives of young men, say the researchers.

"Adolescent males depend on sports for social status, the maintenance of relationships with male peers and family members," said Veliz. "In other words, sports are a powerful site to be recognized as a man, and male adolescents will sacrifice their bodies through athletic performances to prove their masculinity. Consequently, opioid use and misuse among males could be the byproduct of a play-through-pain culture."

Source: MedicalXpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-11-teen-athletes-medication-misuse.html

Forced Sexual Contact Common Among Teens

From a hastily forced kiss to outright rape, violent or at least coerced sexual contact may be worryingly common among teens and young adults, a new study reports.

Researchers found 9 percent of youths aged 14 to 21 admitted to some kind of forced sexual contact, using tactics from guilt to threats and actual physical force. Half blamed their victims.

Four percent of the more than 1,000 young men and women surveyed admitted to having raped someone else, the researchers report in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics.

But most who tried or completed rape said they didn’t use physical force – 63 percent of those who said they had forced someone to have sex against their will said they used guilt as their main tactic, while 32 percent said they used arguments and other verbal pressure.

And the problem behavior tends to really begin at around age 16, said Michele Ybarra of the Center for Innovative Public Health Research in San Clemente, California and Kimberly Mitchell of the University of New Hampshire.

Ybarra says it is clear that many teens are not getting the message that ‘no’ means no.

“Nine percent of youths reported some type of sexual violence perpetration in their lifetime: 8 percent kissed, touched, or made someone else do something sexual when the youth knew the other person did not want to (ie, forced sexual contact); 3 percent got someone to give into sex when he or she knew the other person did not want to have sex; 3 percent attempted but were not able to force someone to have sex (ie, attempted rape); and 2 percent forced someone to have sex with him or her (ie, completed rape)," Ybarra said.

Youths who reported seeing more violent sex online, in magazines, on television or at the movies were more likely to commit violent sexual acts.

Ybarra said the findings show a lot more effort is needed to prevent sexual assaults. “We, as a society, need to take more responsibility to identify perpetrators and implement programs in schools,” she said. Parents need to teach kids about healthy sex, young people need to speak up when friends describe either being victims or perpetrators of forced sex and schools need more programs to help teach youngsters about acceptable behavior, she says.

Source: NBC News
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/forced-sexual-contact-common-among-teens-study-suggests-8C11350021

Parent-Child Violence Leads to Teen Dating Violence

Teens today are involved in intimate relationships at a much younger age and often have different definitions of what is acceptable behavior in a relationship. Violence is something that is all too common and according to researchers at Iowa State it is a reflection of the relationships teens have with their parents or their parent's partner.

"It is true that if you grow up in a violent household you have a higher likelihood of being in a violent relationship," said Brenda Lohman, lead author and an associate professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University.

The research focused on psychological violence instead of physical violence. Lohman and her colleagues discovered that psychological violence between a parent and child was more significant than a child witnessing violence between two adults in the home.

"If the parent is more aggressive toward the child, the child is more likely to be in relationships where they're being victimized or perpetrating violence against their partner a few years or even a decade later," Lohman said.

The study is one of the first to examine patterns of violence over three decades to see how children exposed to psychological violence and family stress were affected in relationships later in life.

The study is published in the April issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Source: ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130325160237.htm