Roxburgh Susan, MacArthur Kelly Rhea
Kent State University, 215 Merrill Hall, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
Child Abuse Negl. 2014 Aug;38(8):1409-20. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.007. Epub 2014 Apr 1.
The relationship between childhood adversity and adult depression is well-established but less is known about the association between childhood adversity and adult depression among the incarcerated. In this paper, we examine differential exposure and vulnerability to childhood adversity by race/ethnicity and gender on adult depression among the incarcerated in the United States. We address three research questions: does exposure to childhood adverse experiences vary by race/ethnicity and gender? Is there an association between these childhood adverse events and depression and does the strength of the association vary by the specific adverse experiences? And does vulnerability to childhood adversity vary by gender and race/ethnicity? Using the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SI-SFCF), we measure four key childhood adverse events - parental/caretaker substance abuse, physical assault, having been placed in foster care, and sexual assault. We use ordinary least squares regression and a series of interaction effect analyses to examine differential exposure and vulnerability to the four childhood adverse experiences by race/ethnicity and gender. Incarcerated women are more likely to report parental substance abuse, but all inmates/prisoners are similarly vulnerable to this experience. For the other three adverse experiences measured, we find that there are important racial/ethnic and gender differences in both exposure and vulnerability. African American men and women are more vulnerable to the effects of physical and sexual victimization than White and Hispanic men and women. Women are much more likely to be exposed to sexual victimization, but men who report this experience are significantly more depressed. Hispanic women and White men and women are more likely to report foster care, but all inmates/prisoners who report foster care experiences are significantly more depressed than other inmates/prisoners, with the exception of white men. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in exposure and vulnerability to childhood adversity by race/ethnicity and gender. We conclude that in order to effectively design and implement programs to decrease the probability that childhood adversity is a risk factor for adult depression interventions must be targeted toward specific, vulnerable groups according to race/ethnicity and gender.
童年逆境与成人抑郁症之间的关系已得到充分证实，但在被监禁人群中，童年逆境与成人抑郁症之间的关联却鲜为人知。在本文中，我们研究了美国被监禁人群中，按种族/族裔和性别划分，童年逆境的不同暴露情况以及易感性与成人抑郁症之间的关系。我们提出三个研究问题：童年不良经历的暴露情况是否因种族/族裔和性别而异？这些童年不良事件与抑郁症之间是否存在关联，且关联强度是否因具体不良经历而异？童年逆境的易感性是否因性别和种族/族裔而异？利用2004年州和联邦惩教设施在押人员调查（SI-SFCF），我们衡量了四个关键的童年不良事件——父母/照顾者药物滥用、身体攻击、曾被安置在寄养家庭以及性侵犯。我们使用普通最小二乘法回归和一系列交互效应分析，来研究按种族/族裔和性别划分，对这四种童年不良经历的不同暴露情况和易感性。被监禁的女性更有可能报告父母药物滥用情况，但所有在押人员/囚犯对这种经历的易感性相似。对于所衡量的其他三种不良经历，我们发现，在暴露情况和易感性方面都存在重要的种族/族裔和性别差异。非裔美国男性和女性比白人和西班牙裔男性和女性更容易受到身体和性侵害的影响。女性更容易遭受性侵害，但报告有这种经历的男性抑郁程度明显更高。西班牙裔女性以及白人男性和女性更有可能报告曾被安置在寄养家庭，但所有报告有寄养家庭经历的在押人员/囚犯，除白人男性外，抑郁程度都明显高于其他在押人员/囚犯。研究结果表明，按种族/族裔和性别划分，童年逆境的暴露情况和易感性存在显著差异。我们得出结论，为了有效设计和实施项目，以降低童年逆境成为成人抑郁症风险因素的可能性，干预措施必须根据种族/族裔和性别针对特定的弱势群体。
