Childhood victimization and lifetime revictimization

By C. Widom, S. Czaja, Mary Ann Dutton. International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect, 2008

671 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Objective To examine the fundamental hypothesis that childhood victimization leads to increased vulnerability for subsequent (re)victimization in adolescence and adulthood and, if so, whether there are differences in rates of experiencing traumas and victimizations by gender, race/ethnicity, and type of childhood abuse and/or neglect. Methods Using a prospective cohort design, participants are individuals with documented cases of childhood physical and sexual abuse and neglect from the years 1967 through 1971 and a matched control group. Both groups were interviewed in-person (mean age 39.5 years) in 2000–2002 using a new instrument to assess lifetime trauma and victimization history. Results Abused and neglected individuals reported a higher number of traumas and victimization experiences than controls and all types of childhood victimization (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) were associated with increased risk for lifetime revictimization. Significant group (abuse/neglect versus control) by gender and group by race/ethnicity interactions were found. Childhood victimization increased risk for physical and sexual assault/abuse, kidnapping/stalking, and having a family friend murdered or commit suicide, but not for general traumas, witnessing trauma, or crime victimization. Conclusions These findings provide strong support for the need for early intervention with abused and neglected children and their families to prevent subsequent exposure to traumas and victimization experiences.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Health, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e37e54a1ef29a4d2747714d074bb28d5fa6466ca

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In Clinical Psychology

1. David Finkelhor
2. S. Hamby
3. H. Turner
4. Richard K. Ormrod
5. F Lavasani
6. V. Salmi
7. Noora Ellonen
8. Anne M. Shattuck

In Health

1. S. Hamby
2. H. Turner
3. David Finkelhor
4. Richard K. Ormrod
5. Anne M. Shattuck
6. A. Randle
7. C. Graham

In Social Psychology

1. David Finkelhor
2. H. Turner
3. S. Hamby
4. Richard K. Ormrod

Citations in the corpus

• Teen dating violence: Co-occurrence with other victimizations in the National Survey of Children s (2012, background): “TDV may also serve an important role in the course of development, as a key form of adolescent victimization that contributes to a developmental cascade of increased vulnerability to victimization throughout the life span and even into the next generation (Widom et al., 2008).”