Poly-victimization in a national sample of children and youth.

Most studies of children's exposure to violence focus on separate, relatively narrow categories of victimization (such as sexual abuse, physical maltreatment, or bullying), paying less attention to exposure to multiple forms of victimization. This study documents children's lifetime exposure to multiple victimization types (i.e., "poly-victimization") and examines the association between poly-victimization and extent of trauma symptomatology. Analyses were based on telephone interviews conducted between January 2008 and May 2008 with a nationally representative sample of 4053 children aged 2-17 years and their caregivers. Exposure to multiple forms of victimization was common. Almost 66% of the sample was exposed to more than one type of victimization, 30% experienced five or more types, and 10% experienced 11 or more different forms of victimization in their lifetimes. Poly-victims comprise a substantial portion of the children who would be identified by screening for an individual victimization type, such as sexual assault or witnessing parental violence. Poly-victimization is more highly related to trauma symptoms than experiencing repeated victimizations of a single type and explains a large part of the associations between individual forms of victimization and symptom levels. Studies focusing on single forms of victimization are likely to underestimate the full burden of victimization that children experience and to incorrectly specify the risk profiles of victims. Research, clinical practice, and intervention strategies are likely to improve with more comprehensive assessments of victimization exposure.

Turner HA ，Finkelhor D ，Ormrod R 《-》

Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth.

Finkelhor D ，Turner H ，Ormrod R ，Hamby SL ... -  《-》

Infant victimization in a nationally representative sample.

Turner HA ，Finkelhor D ，Ormrod R ，Hamby SL ... -  《-》

Poly-victimization: a neglected component in child victimization.

Finkelhor D ，Ormrod RK ，Turner HA 《CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT》

Poly-victimization and risk of posttraumatic, depressive, and substance use disorders and involvement in delinquency in a national sample of adolescents.

Adolescents exposed to multiple forms of psychological trauma ("poly-victimization," Finkelhor et al. Child Abuse Negl 2007;31:7-26) may be at high risk for psychiatric and behavioral problems. This study empirically identifies trauma profiles in a national sample of adolescents to ascertain correlates of poly-victimization. Latent Class analyses and logistic regression analyses were used with data from the National Survey of Adolescents to identify trauma profiles and each profile's risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, substance use disorders, and delinquency involvement and deviant peer group relationships. Poly-victimization classes were also compared to classes with trauma exposure of lesser complexity. Six mutually exclusive trauma profiles (latent classes) were identified. Four classes were characterized by high likelihood of poly-victimization, including abuse victims (8%), physical assault victims (9%), and community violence victims (15.5%). Poly-victimization class members, especially abuse and assault victims, were more likely than do youth traumatized by witnessing violence or exposure to disaster/accident trauma to have psychiatric diagnosis and (independent of psychiatric diagnoses or demographics) to be involved in delinquency with delinquent peers. Poly-victimization is prevalent among adolescents and places youth at high risk for psychiatric impairment and for delinquency. Moreover, poly-victimized youths' risk of delinquency cannot be fully accounted for by posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, or substance use problems, suggesting that adolescent healthcare providers should consider poly-victimization as a risk for behavioral and legal problems even when PTSD, depression, or addiction symptoms are not clinically significant.

Ford JD ，Elhai JD ，Connor DF ，Frueh BC ... -  《-》