Kim Min Jung, Tajima Emiko A, Herrenkohl Todd I, Huang Bu
Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Avenue, NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA 98115.
Soc Work Res. 2009 Mar 1;33(1):19-28. doi: 10.1093/swr/33.1.19.
This article examines whether running away from home mediates the link between child maltreatment and later delinquency and victimization in adolescence. Specifically, the authors tested the hypothesis that childhood physical and psychological abuse increase the risk of a child's running away from home by the time of adolescence. Running away from home is, in turn, hypothesized to increase the risk of delinquency and victimization. Childhood sexual abuse, modeled independently of physical and psychological abuse, is hypothesized to have a similar effect on the intervening factor of running away, as well as the two adolescent outcomes: delinquency and victimization. The sample of 416 adolescents was drawn from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study conducted in a two-county area of Pennsylvania. Findings show that physical and psychological abuse predict a child's running away from home. Running away predicts later delinquency and victimization and partially mediates the effect of earlier abuse. Both child abuse and running away from home are adverse events that can be addressed through systematic prevention and intervention efforts tailored to those who have been victimized. Findings can support social workers in their efforts to advocate on behalf of child abuse victims in developing interventions and support services.
本文探讨离家出走是否在儿童期受虐与青少年后期犯罪及受害之间起到中介作用。具体而言，作者检验了以下假设：童年期的身体虐待和心理虐待会增加青少年离家出走的风险。反过来，离家出走又被假定会增加犯罪及受害的风险。童年期性虐待独立于身体和心理虐待进行建模，被假定对离家出走这一中介因素以及青少年的两个结果（犯罪和受害）有类似影响。416名青少年样本取自宾夕法尼亚州一个两县地区开展的利哈伊纵向研究。研究结果表明，身体和心理虐待可预测儿童离家出走。离家出走可预测后期的犯罪和受害情况，并部分介导早期虐待的影响。儿童虐待和离家出走都是不良事件，可通过针对受害者的系统预防和干预措施加以解决。研究结果可为社会工作者努力为受虐儿童受害者争取干预措施和支持服务提供支持。
