School of Criminology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Québec, Canada.
J Psychiatr Res. 2024 May;173:192-199. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.03.030. Epub 2024 Mar 22.
Childhood maltreatment is increasingly recognized as an important risk factor for teen dating violence (TDV) victimization. However, far too little research has studied the mechanisms that could explain this higher risk of revictimization. The present study investigated the role of alexithymia in the association between cumulative childhood maltreatment, TDV victimization occurrence and chronicity, and TDV-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
A total of 2780 adolescents, aged 13 to 19, completed measures of childhood maltreatment and alexithymia at Time 1 and TDV victimization and TDV-related PTSD symptoms at Time 2 (6 months later). Two mediational models were tested to examine the role of alexithymia as a risk factor for revictimization. One model assessed TDV occurrence as an outcome, while the other explored TDV chronicity and TDV-related PTSD symptoms as outcomes.
Findings suggest that cumulative childhood maltreatment is associated with an increased probability of TDV occurrence through alexithymia. Cumulative childhood maltreatment and alexithymia are also associated with TDV chronicity and TDV-related PTSD symptoms. Notably, cumulative childhood maltreatment is associated with higher levels of alexithymia among adolescent victims of TDV, which, in turn, predicts higher TDV chronicity and TDV-related PTSD symptoms.
This study relied on abbreviated measures and did not include all forms of child maltreatment (e.g., emotional and physical neglect).
Promoting emotional awareness and identification among youth victims of child maltreatment could reduce the risk of TDV occurrence, TDV chronicity, and TDV-related PTSD symptoms.
儿童期虐待越来越被认为是青少年约会暴力（TDV）受害的重要危险因素。然而，研究儿童期虐待与 TDV 受害发生和持续性以及与 TDV 相关的创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状之间关系的机制的研究还很少。本研究调查了述情障碍在累积儿童期虐待、TDV 受害发生和持续性以及与 TDV 相关 PTSD 症状之间的关联中的作用。
共有 2780 名 13 至 19 岁的青少年在第 1 次（6 个月后）时完成了儿童期虐待和述情障碍的测量，在第 2 次（第 1 次后 6 个月）时完成了 TDV 受害和与 TDV 相关的 PTSD 症状的测量。检验了两个中介模型，以考察述情障碍作为再受害风险因素的作用。一个模型评估了 TDV 发生作为结果，另一个模型则探讨了 TDV 持续性和与 TDV 相关的 PTSD 症状作为结果。
研究结果表明，累积儿童期虐待通过述情障碍与 TDV 发生的可能性增加有关。累积儿童期虐待和述情障碍也与 TDV 持续性和与 TDV 相关的 PTSD 症状有关。值得注意的是，累积儿童期虐待与 TDV 受害青少年的述情障碍水平较高有关，而述情障碍水平较高又预测了 TDV 的持续性和与 TDV 相关的 PTSD 症状较高。
本研究依赖于简化的测量方法，且没有包括所有形式的儿童虐待（例如情感和身体忽视）。
在儿童期虐待的青少年受害者中促进情绪意识和识别，可能会降低 TDV 发生、TDV 持续性和与 TDV 相关 PTSD 症状的风险。
