The Ability of Multi-Type Maltreatment and Poly-Victimization Approaches to Reflect Psychopathological Impairment of Victimization in Spanish Community Adolescents

Abstract

This paper examined the ability of two different approaches (the multi-type maltreatment approach, and the polyvictimization approach) to reflect the psychopathological aftermath of victimization. It also analyzed gender-related differences in psychopathological symptoms at varying levels of exposure to violence. The study was conducted in 923 Spanish community adolescents (aged from 14 to 18 years; 62.4% girls; 87.4% born in Spain), recruited for screening purposes from eight secondary schools in Barcelona and its metropolitan area (Spain). The study was based on cross-sectional data. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire and the Youth Self Report (DSM scales) were used to analyze victimization and psychopathological impairment respectively. The results showed that the two approaches present a similar ability to reflect psychopathological outcomes. The use of mean T scores to analyze psychopathological impairments conceals the high percentages of adolescents who are at risk in several psychopathological scales. Gender-related differences, analyzed under the multi-type approach, showed that girls presented slightly higher levels of symptomatology in reaction to their first experiences of victimization, whereas boys presented strong emotional reactions after the accumulation of a high number of victimized areas. Adolescents victimized in up to three areas showed evidence of resiliency to interpersonal victimization events and displayed non-clinical psychopathological profiles. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms had to be considered in high victimized groups, conjointly with affective, somatic and post-traumatic stress as psychopathological symptoms related to victimization.