Sexual Victimization of Adolescents in Residential Care: Self-Reported and Other-Reported Prevalence

ABSTRACT

Adolescents in the child welfare system have been exposed to multiple forms of victimization, most notably sexual victimization, many times underreported and misreported. The main aim of this study was to explore the lifetime prevalence of sexual victimization among adolescents in residential care in Eastern Spain, contrasting self-reported information compared to the information reported by the professionals. Sexual abuse/assault characteristics and effects of gender and age were analyzed. Additionally, the association between sexual revictimization and the relationship with the aggressor as well as the age of the first episode of sexual abuse/assault was analyzed. The sample comprised 346 adolescents (34.1% females, 65.9% males) aged between 11 and 19 years old. The prevalence of sexual victimization reported by adolescents was 35.3%, more than double compared to the information reported by professionals (16.9%). Females experienced significantly more sexual victimization than males (OR = 0.23, 95% CI [0.14, 0.37]). The age of the victim at the first episode of sexual abuse/assault and the relationship with the aggressor were explanatory variables of revictimization. Research such as this is crucial to ascertain that these adolescents have very different needs that will influence the design of affective-sexual education initiatives, which are essential to ensure healthy sexual development.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital (Generalitat Valenciana) [grant AICO/2021/143] for the financial support granted to this research activity and to the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) for the financial support granted for the University Teacher Training. Also, thank you to all study participants for their strong involvement in this project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

¹ An associate degree is the first level of non-vocational degree you can pursue following a high school diploma. Typically designed to be completed in two years or less, associate degree programs include introductory courses through which students can start to learn about a particular field or academic discipline.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital (Generalitat Valenciana) [grant AICO/2021/143].