Gender-Specific Mental and Behavioral Outcomes among Physically Abused High-Risk Seventh-Grade Youths

Abstract

Research has shown that physical abuse during childhood (early PA) is associated with various mental and behavioral problems in adolescence. However, there is little research on the differences in these associations by gender among youths residing in high-risk communities. This study investigated gender differences in the relationship between early PA and various internalizing (e.g., thoughts of suicide or victimization) and externalizing (e.g., perpetration of violence) behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted using survey data (collected in 2004) provided by 1,484 seventh-grade youths residing in a high-risk community (83% participated). Students were considered victims of early PA if they reported experiencing abuse prior to age 10 years. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated to estimate the association between early PA and various outcomes (e.g., suicidality, victimization, violence, and illegal drug use), adjusting for race/ethnicity and other forms of abuse. Poisson regression with robust variance estimates was used to estimate the PRs and test for early PA-gender interaction. Early PA was positively associated with suicidality, illegal drug use, and victimization with no significant differences by gender. The association between early PA and criminal behavior was significantly higher for females; the association between early PA and peer violence perpetration was significantly higher for males (interaction term PA*gender was significant at the p < or = 0.005 level). Young high-risk adolescents who experienced early PA may need counseling or other services (e.g., home visitation) to help prevent suicidality, victimization, violence perpetration, criminal behavior, and illegal drug use. Furthermore, male victims may need more attention in the area of violence prevention; female victims may need particular attention with regard to preventing criminal behavior.