The association between youth violence and mental health outcomes in Colombia: A cross sectional analysis.

Adverse childhood experiences Colombia Mental health Substance use Violence against children Youth

Journal

Child abuse & neglect
ISSN: 1873-7757
Titre abrégé: Child Abuse Negl
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7801702

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
11 Jul 2023
Historique:
received: 13 01 2023
revised: 22 06 2023
accepted: 28 06 2023
medline: 14 7 2023
pubmed: 14 7 2023
entrez: 13 7 2023
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

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. 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. 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. Findings highlight the internalized mental health burden of emotional and sexual violence.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND 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 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 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 CONCLUSIONS
Findings highlight the internalized mental health burden of emotional and sexual violence.

Identifiants

pubmed: 37442669
pii: S0145-2134(23)00324-1
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106336
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

106336

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest None.

Auteurs

Luissa Vahedi (L)

Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Ilana Seff (I)

Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Melissa Meinhart (M)

National Coalition of Independent Scholars, USA.

Arturo Harker Roa (AH)

School of Government, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia.

Andrés Villaveces (A)

Division of Violence Prevention, NCIPC, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Lindsay Stark (L)

Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA. Electronic address: lindsaystark@wustl.edu.

Classifications MeSH