Reducing sexual violence by policy, social factors may benefit teen mental health

Reducing sexual violence through policy and societal changes may benefit the mental health of adolescents and contribute to shrinking gender gaps in internalization of mental health issues, per a study published in Lancet Psychiatry.

“There is a well-established and substantial gender gap in the prevalence of common mental illnesses,” Francesca Bentivegna, MSc, of the Institute of Education and department of psychology and human development at University College London, and Praveetha Patalay, of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at University College London, wrote. “Women and girls have higher rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm than men and boys from adolescence onwards.”

Due to the lack of high-quality longitudinal population-based research investigating the role of sexual violence experiences, which are disproportionately experienced by girls, Bentivegna and Patalay aimed to estimate the effects of sexual violence experienced in mid-adolescence on mental health outcomes.

Their study utilized data from the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born in the U.K. between 2000 and 2002, to include 9,971 participants (5,119 girls and 4,852 boys). All included had data available by the age of 17 on sexual violence in the past year (eg sexual assault or unwelcome sexual approach), mental health outcomes (eg completion of the Kessler Psychological Distress K6 scale in the past 30 days, self-harm in the past year and lifetime attempted suicide). Multivariable confounder adjusted regressions and propensity matching approaches were used, and population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated.

Results showed that, in the fully adjusted model, compared with no sexual violence, sexual violence was associated with greater mean psychological distress in girls (mean difference 2.09 [95% CI, 1.51–2.68]) and boys (2.56 [1.59–3.53]), higher risk of high psychological distress in girls (risk ratio [RR] 1.65 [95% CI, 1.37–2.00]) and boys (1.55 [1.00–2.40]), higher risk of self-harm in girls (RR 1.79 [1.52–2.10]) and boys (RR 2.16 [1.63–2.84]) and higher risk of attempted suicide in girls (RR 1.75 [1.26–2.41]) and boys (RR 2.73 [1.59–4.67]).

Data additionally revealed PAF estimates that suggested, in a hypothetical scenario with no sexual violence, the prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes for those aged 17 years would be 3.7% to 10.5% lower in boys and 14% to 18.7% lower in girls than the prevalence in this cohort.

“The findings of this study emphasize the need to consider this common and important, yet often gendered and understudied, risk factor more seriously and urgently in adolescent mental health research, clinical practice and policymaking,” Bentivegna and Patalay wrote.