Violence and Society Centre, City St George's, University of London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
Violence and Society Centre, City St George's, University of London, EC1V 0HB, UK; National Centre for Social Research, EC1V 8AX, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2024 Oct;359:117278. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117278. Epub 2024 Aug 30.
An extensive body of evidence shows the impact of being the direct victim of a serious assault. However, much less is known about the impact on the family and close relatives of victims, who may be considered indirect victims. Based on analyses of the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a face-to-face, cross-sectional probability-sample survey of 7519 adults aged 16 and over in England, this article estimates what proportion of the population was closely related to a victim of serious assault, and whether this experience was associated with a higher prevalence of feeling unsafe, depression and anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress, self-harm, and suicidality. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for complex survey design and potentially confounding factors. Results show that one in twenty adults (4.5%, n = 345) was closely related to a victim of serious assault (95% confidence interval (CI):4.0-5.2%). Close adult relatives of assault victims were more likely than the rest of the population to have been direct victims of violence and abuse themselves, to have experienced multiple other adversities, and to live in more deprived neighbourhoods. However, even when controlling for these experiences, relatives of victims had adjusted odds of feeling unsafe in the neighbourhood where they lived 2.36 times higher than the rest of the population (CI:1.26-4.44), and their odds of having a depressive or anxiety disorder were 1.37 times higher (0.99-1.90). These analyses indicate that relatives in England may already be vulnerable, with potential to also be further affected by the experiences of family members. To more fully account for the effects of violence in society, research with indirect victims of serious violence in the context of their own experiences of direct victimization and wider adversities is required. This could be factored into a broader remit for victim support services which includes support for victims' families.
大量证据表明，直接成为严重攻击的受害者会产生影响。然而，人们对受害者的家人和近亲所受到的影响知之甚少，这些人可能被视为间接受害者。本文基于对 2014 年成人精神健康状况调查的分析，该调查是对英格兰 7519 名 16 岁及以上成年人进行的面对面、横断面概率抽样调查，估计了有多少人口与严重攻击的受害者有密切关系，以及这种经历是否与更高的不安全感、抑郁和焦虑障碍、创伤后应激障碍、自残和自杀意念的患病率有关。进行了描述性和多变量回归分析，并对复杂的调查设计和潜在的混杂因素进行了调整。结果表明，每 20 个成年人中就有 1 人（4.5%，n=345）与严重攻击的受害者有密切关系（95%置信区间（CI）：4.0-5.2%）。袭击受害者的成年近亲比其他人群更有可能自己直接成为暴力和虐待的受害者，经历过更多的其他逆境，并且生活在更贫困的社区。然而，即使在控制了这些经历的情况下，受害者的亲属居住的社区感到不安全的调整后优势比其他人群高 2.36 倍（CI：1.26-4.44），他们患抑郁或焦虑障碍的优势比也高 1.37 倍（0.99-1.90）。这些分析表明，英国的亲属可能已经很脆弱，并且有可能因家庭成员的经历而进一步受到影响。为了更全面地了解社会暴力的影响，需要在直接受害者自身的直接受害经历和更广泛的逆境背景下，对严重暴力的间接受害者进行研究。这可以纳入受害者支持服务的更广泛职责范围，包括为受害者家属提供支持。
