Article Title:
Factors differentiating risk of sexual abuse victimization by adults and peers among adolescents
Authors:
Iris Linnea Schaathun, Ian Revhaug Nenseth, Kamilla Rognmo, Gertrud Sofie Hafstad.
Summary:
While a great deal of research has been devoted to identifying risk and protective factors associated with child sexual abuse perpetrated by adults, relatively limited effort has been devoted to studying child-on-child sexual abuse. In this study of Norwegian students (12-16 years old), the authors compare, and contrast risk and other factors related to sexual abuse by adult versus minor offenders. An electronic questionnaire was administered to students throughout Norway, asking about lifetime experiences of violence and abuse, demographic characteristics, and potential risk factors. The latter included questions about physical disabilities; family relations (whether or not the child lived with both parents); the presence of alcoholism, mental illness or incarceration within the family; experience of multiple types of violence; self-perceived level of physical maturity (less/more/equal to maturity of peers); prior episode(s) of inebriation, and daily internet use. 9240 students participated in the study: 49.7% girls; 49.2% boys; 0.6% non-binary; 89.6% were born in Norway; 16.8% were of ethnic minority status.
Major Results Included:
Results demonstrated that 32% of participating youth experienced sexual abuse, and of those, the vast majority (81.2%) were victimized by minors. Many of the risk factors studied were common to both groups (those abused by adults vs peers), including
- female gender,
- having a physical disability,
- a history of exposure to violence,
- having experienced multiple episodes of inebriation,
- high family risk, and
- self-perception of advanced physical maturity.
In contrast, having at least one parent born outside of Europe was associated with a reduced risk for abuse by adults or peers. Of the children in this group who did experience sexual violence, they were more likely to be abused by adults than peers. The authors speculate that this may be related to relatively increased supervision of children (but not adults) in collectivist cultures.
Risk factors associated with victimization by peers but not adults included,
- high daily use of the internet
- weak family finances.
Having a past history of violence was associated with higher odds of abuse by an adult than by a peer, while a history of multiple episodes of alcohol inebriation was more highly associated with abuse by peers. However, both risk factors were statistically significant for both adult and peer offenses. Parental divorce was not associated with sexual abuse by perpetrators of any age.
How Can We Use This Study's Results?
Key take-home messages for professionals working with vulnerable children include:
1. Child-on-child sexual violence makes up a large proportion of cases of child sexual abuse so we need to address this phenomenon in prevention programs
2. While many risk factors for child-on-child sexual abuse overlap with those for adult-perpetrated sexual violence, there are some differences, including high internet use and weak family finances, with risk especially high with children who experience multiple episodes of alcohol intoxication. Prevention strategies need to include student education on risk of violence in settings where alcohol is used, especially in high quantities.
3. Sexual abuse is associated with other types of violence (polyvictimization). Professionals should consider the possibility of co-existing or prior violence in children who experience sexual abuse.
As with all studies that examine participant characteristics at a single point in time, it is important to keep in mind that conclusions regarding possible causation are not possible.
