Victimization and depression among youth with disabilities in the US child welfare system.
Child Care Health Dev
; 41(6): 989-99, 2015 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25761940
ABSTRACT
AIM:
This study aimed to examine the prevalence of victimization among a United States-wide cohort of youth with disabilities (YWD) investigated for maltreatment in the child welfare system (CWS) and their correlation with mental health.METHODS:
Data were drawn from baseline interviews in the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a national representative survey of youth involved in the CWS. Interviews took place between 2008 and 2009 and included 675 youth, 11-17 years old and residing with biological families across 83 counties nationwide. The sample consisted of 405 females (60.1%) and 270 males (39.9%), mean age = 13.5 years. We identified YWD if they reported one or more physical or neurodevelopmental health condition (n = 247). Reported victimization experiences and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores were analysed using weighted regression analyses.RESULTS:
One-quarter of YWD in the CWS reported three or more victimizations during the prior year compared with 19% of youth without disabilities. The odds of YWD reporting a one-unit increase in level of victimization was 75% higher (P < 0.05) than youth without disabilities. Prevalence of clinical depression was significantly higher among YWD (14 vs. 5.5%; P < 0.05). Unlike youth without disabilities, the odds of clinical depression were 92% higher for every one-unit increase in victimization among YWD, controlling for covariates (P < 0.05). Of CWS-involved youth who reported three or more victimizations, 24.4% of YWD and 2.2% of non-disabled youth had CDI scores in the clinical range.CONCLUSION:
YWDs in the US CWS are at high risk of experiencing victimization and clinical depression. Our findings suggest that health professionals need to screen CWS-involved YWD for multiple forms of victimization, and develop and implement trauma-informed services that target the mental health sequelae that may jeopardize their independence in adulthood.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Proteção da Criança
/
Vítimas de Crime
/
Crianças com Deficiência
/
Depressão
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Child Care Health Dev
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos