Behavioral and Mental Health Correlates of Youth Stalking Victimization

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  Reidy, Dennis E. ; Smith-Darden, Joanne P. ; Kernsmith, Poco D.
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Although recognized as a public health problem, little attention has been paid to the problem of stalking among youth. Latent profile analysis was used to identify latent groups of adolescent stalking victims and their behavioral and mental health correlates.
  
  Methods
  
  A cross-sectional sample of 1,236 youths were randomly selected from 13 schools stratified by community risk level (i.e., low, moderate, and high risk) and gender. Students completed surveys assessing behavioral indicators of stalking victimization, as well as substance use, sexual behavior, dating violence, and psychiatric symptoms. Data were collected in 2013 and data analyses were performed in 2015.
  
  Results
  
  Analysis indicated the presence of a non-victim class, a minimal exposure class, and a victim class for boys and girls alike. Approximately 14% of girls and 13% of boys were in the stalking victim class. Adolescents in the victim class reported more symptoms of post-traumatic stress, mood disorder, and hopelessness, as well as more instances of alcohol use, binge drinking, and physical dating violence victimization. Girls in the victim class also reported engaging in sexting behaviors and oral sex with significantly more partners than their non-victim peers.
  
  Conclusions
  
  These findings provide valuable knowledge of the prevalence and pertinent health correlates of stalking victimization in adolescence. The data suggest a substantial proportion of adolescents are victims of stalking and are likewise at risk for a number of deleterious health outcomes. As such, this population merits further attention by prevention researchers and practitioners.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adolescent Behavior Child Crime Victims Cross-Sectional Studies Female Humans Male Mental Health Stalking United States

  More +
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 51(6):1007-1014
• Pubmed ID:
  27743623
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5860645
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 CE002115/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3f5d21fc2ef8faca306aed5769e665db0dcd1543fb5816064e34c850034080e5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/52646/cdc_52646_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 399.11 KB ]