Understanding the Potential Long-term Physical and Mental Health Consequences of Early Experiences of Victimization

Abstract

Victimization in the USA is a substantial concern, despite a trend of decreasing crime rates. Victims of crime face a number of short-term consequences such as physical injury, fear and anxiety, and/or loss of property. Long-term consequences of victimization, however, may often be overlooked. Using the first six waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, the current study examines the relationship between early experiences of victimization and long-term physical and mental health outcomes, including general health, access to and use of health care, and health risk behaviors. Results find that individuals who are victimized before the age of 12, especially those who experienced repeated bullying, are more susceptible to a number of physical and mental health issues such as negative perceptions of physical and mental health, smoking, subsequent victimization experiences, and homelessness. Public health concerns and policy implications of these findings are also discussed.

Keywords:

• victimization
• mental health
• access to health care
• health risk behaviors
• bullying

Notes

1. The initial sampling strategy involved a multistage, stratified random sample as well as oversampling of specific groups. Sampling weights were created at each wave to account for this. While the NLSY specifies that using sampling weights in regression analysis is not advised (see “Sample Weights & Design Effects” at www.nlsinfo.org/nlsy97/nlsdocs/nlsy97/use97data/weights.html), all multivariate models presented here were reanalyzed with the Wave 6 sampling weights and robust standard errors in Stata SE9. Results were substantively similar to those presented here and are available on request.

2. It is important to recognize that victimization experiences are not randomly distributed. While we have attempted to control for as many potential confounding factors as are available, it is possible that other unmeasured variables may also account for the relationship between victimization and physical and mental health outcomes. One strategy for dealing with assessing causal relationships is with techniques like propensity score matching (PSM). Unfortunately, the structure of the data makes this option difficult. The victimization measure of interest is only measured at Wave 1 and is not specific as to the timing of event(s), complicating the ability to identify preexisting factors that predict victimization. PSM analyses were conducted with this data to develop a rough model for matching those who reported bullying victimization and those who did not. The model predicting bullying victimization included age, gender, weight, the number of places the respondent had lived, whether the respondent took medication for a chronic condition or had a learning disability, and an index of family routines (representing days spent in routine, prosocial activities with family). Additional variables were considered for inclusion but were not significant predictors. The predicted value was saved, and 1:1 nearest neighbor matching was conducted in Stata 12. The matching procedure resulted in a matched sample of 416 individuals who reported experiencing repeated bullying and 416 who did not. All of the subsequent models reported here were also conducted with the matched sample. Results were substantively similar to those reported here and are available on request.

3. Bullying was chosen since bivariate results appeared to be most consistent for this form of victimization. Similar models were also estimated using the other victimization measures but are not presented here due to space considerations. Results are available upon request.

4. As described previously, models were also estimated using the other victimization measures. Results are available upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leana A. Bouffard

Leana Bouffard is associate professor of Criminal Justice and the Director of the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University. Her research interests include consequences of victimization, criminological theory, violence against women, and parenting. Her work has been published in Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Crime & Delinquency, among others.

Maria D.H. Koeppel

Maria Koeppel is a Ph.D. candidate in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University. Her research areas of interest include sociological aspects of crime such as gender and sexual orientation, and victimization. Currently, she is working with the Crime Victims’ Institute at SHSU where she has worked on projects examining short- and long-term consequences of victimization.