Suchergebnisse

Approximately half of child sexual abuse (CSA) victims report sexual revictimization later in life; however, there is limited rigorous evidence concerning factors contributing to sexual and nonsexual forms of revictimization. This article investigates the relationships between CSA and a range of revictimization experiences. It also examines the role of other individual-level factors (demographics, CSA characteristics, psychiatric disorders) in the risk of revictimization. The study compares data from a prospective-longitudinal study of 2,759 Australian children (<17 years old) alleged to have experienced contact–CSA between 1964 and 1995, and a comparison group matched on sex and age. In each case, CSA was deemed likely to have occurred according to expert forensic medical opinion. Abused children and comparisons were followed to age 35 years on average, and their lifetime official crime victimization histories and public mental health service records were extracted from statewide population-level administrative databases. Relative to comparisons, CSA victims experienced significantly higher rates of revictimization, with marked elevations in odds for interpersonal revictimization (i.e., sexual assault, physical assault, threats of violence, and stalking). The CSA–physical assault relationship was moderated by sex, with a stronger association for female victims. Among CSA victims, victim sex, age at index abuse, and several psychiatric diagnostic categories were independently associated with revictimization risk, with different patterns of vulnerability emerging depending on the nature of revictimization. Overall, CSA victims are vulnerable to a range of revictimization experiences later in life. Findings have implications for the identification of particular groups of sexually abused children at heightened risk for revictimization and the role mental health services may play in mitigating risk.

Abstract
Purpose
There is a lack of research examining age-related differences in the characteristics of young people who use family violence between key developmental periods. This study provides a population-based descriptive overview of young people who come to police attention for using family violence and examines how characteristics differ across early adolescence (10–14 years), late adolescence (15–19 years) and young adulthood (20–24 years).

Method
The sample comprised all youth aged 10–24 years (N = 5014) who were reported to police for using family violence over a four-month period in 2019. Chi-square analyses with odds ratios as a measure of effect size were used to examine age-related differences in sociodemographic, psychosocial, and family violence-related characteristics across the three age groups. A Kaplan Meier survival curve was used to examine age-based differences in time to family violence recidivism.

Results
Findings suggested that young people who used family violence were typically male, disproportionately from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and a significant minority experienced mental health issues. Substance abuse and unemployment/school truancy were higher among those in late adolescence and young adulthood, while accessibility needs, and childhood victimisation were highest among those in early adolescence. Child-to-parent abuse was highest among those in early- and late-adolescence, while intimate partner abuse was highest among those in young adulthood. There was no significant difference in time to family violence recidivism among the groups.

Conclusion
The findings of this study highlight the variation in characteristics of youth family violence according to three key developmental periods. Such information may be used to inform assessment and intervention approaches for this cohort.

This study sought to enhance knowledge of the link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and long-term criminality by investigating gender-specific effects and the role of index sexual abuse characteristics, revictimization, and serious mental health problems. An Australian sample of 2,759 documented cases of sexual abuse and 2,677 community controls were linked to statewide police records and public mental health service databases, with a follow-up period of 13–44 years. Four key findings emerged from the analysis: (1) CSA victims were more likely than controls to engage in all types of criminal behaviors including violent, sexual, and other offending; (2) gender moderated the relationship between CSA and criminal offending, with stronger associations found among females for general and violent offending, and among males for sexual offending; (3) certain features of the index sexual abuse (i.e., developmental period, number of perpetrators, relation to perpetrator), further victimization experiences, and the development of serious mental health problems were all associated with an increased likelihood of criminal behavior among CSA victims; (4) CSA victims who engaged in criminal offending were more likely to present with cumulative risks than victims not engaging in criminal offending. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.