Lifetime interpersonal victimization profiles and mental health problems in a nationally representative panel of trauma-exposed adults from the United Kingdom

Charak, Ruby; Vang, Maria Louison; Shevlin, Mark; Ben-Ezra, Menachem; Karatzias, Thanos; Hyland, Philip

Abstract

Exposure to traumatic events has been associated with negative psychological outcomes. There is, however, a dearth of research on revictimization (i.e., experiences of victimization during both childhood and adulthood). The current study examined different patterns of lifetime interpersonal victimization based on six types of childhood maltreatment, physical and sexual assault, and assault with a weapon during adulthood via latent class analysis (LCA) with gender as covariate. Using a 3-step approach the study assessed differences across the latent classes in symptoms and diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder. An adult sample representative of the United Kingdom population with exposure to trauma (N = 1,051) was recruited online through a research panel. Mean age of the sample was 47.18 years (SD = 15.00, range = 18-90 years; 68.4% female). LCA identified five classes, namely, lifetime polyvictimization (8.3%; 69.5% female), sexual revictimization (13.7%; 96.5% female), physical revictimization (12.5%; 1.5% male), childhood trauma (25.9%; 85.6% female), and limited victimization (39.7%; 40.3% female). The revictimization class had elevated scores in anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, followed by the childhood trauma class compared to the other classes. The polyvictimization class had nearly a 9 to 33-fold increase in risk of a diagnosis of depression, anxiety and PTSD, compared to the limited victimization class. Findings facilitate the identification of individuals at risk for revictimization and indicate that evidence-based clinical interventions should be targeted towards those with exposure to revictimization and childhood trauma to alleviate symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety.

Citation

Charak, R., Vang, M. L., Shevlin, M., Ben-Ezra, M., Karatzias, T., & Hyland, P. (2020). Lifetime interpersonal victimization profiles and mental health problems in a nationally representative panel of trauma-exposed adults from the United Kingdom. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 33(5), 654-664. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22527

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 9, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Deposit Date: Feb 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 10, 2021
• Print ISSN: 0894-9867
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-6598
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 654-664
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22527
• Keywords: childhood adversities; revictimization; depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder; Latent class analysis; United Kingdom
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2584555