Background

Community and family violence are major global health problems. Approximately 1.3 million deaths around the world and 2.5% of global mortality are due to violence. In El Salvador, youth are exposed to multiple levels of physical and emotional violence, abuse, and crime.

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate the various sources of violence against youth and determine the associations with mental distress symptoms, suicidal ideation, and alcohol use outcomes.

Participants and setting

We use information gathered in 2017 from a representative sample of 13- to 24-year-old adolescents and young adults from El Salvador.

Methods

Data used in this analysis came from a nationally cross-sectional household survey called Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) in El Salvador. We used logistic regression models to determine the associations between lifetime witnessing violence, exposure to physical, sexual, emotional violence, and youth mental health outcomes.

Results

Polyvictimization was associated with greater odds of each mental health outcome after adjusting for confounders. The strongest relative association was observed between emotional violence and mental distress. Sexual violence and emotional violence were predictors of suicidal ideation. Finally, physical violence and sexual violence were associated with alcohol use. The greatest associations were observed between sexual violence perpetrated by a parent, peer, or another adult in the community and suicidal ideation, at a magnitude of approximately six times higher odds.

Conclusions

Preventing violence against youth is likely to improve mental health and wellbeing in El Salvador and other similar contexts worldwide.

中文翻译：

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萨尔瓦多遭受暴力、多重受害以及青少年的心理健康和酒精使用

背景

社区和家庭暴力是主要的全球健康问题。全世界约有 130 万人死于暴力，占全球死亡率的 2.5%。在萨尔瓦多，青年面临多层次的身体和情感暴力、虐待和犯罪。

客观的

本研究的目的是调查针对青少年的暴力行为的各种来源，并确定与精神痛苦症状、自杀意念和酒精使用结果的关联。

参与者和设置

我们使用 2017 年从萨尔瓦多 13 至 24 岁青少年和年轻人的代表性样本中收集的信息。

方法

本分析中使用的数据来自萨尔瓦多一项名为“暴力侵害儿童调查”(VACS) 的全国性家庭调查。我们使用逻辑回归模型来确定终生目睹暴力、遭受身体、性、情感暴力和青少年心理健康结果之间的关联。

结果

在调整混杂因素后，多重受害与每种心理健康结果的发生率增加有关。在情绪暴力和精神痛苦之间观察到最强的相关关联。性暴力和情感暴力是自杀意念的预测因素。最后，身体暴力和性暴力与饮酒有关。在社区中的父母、同伴或其他成年人实施的性暴力与自杀意念之间观察到最大的关联，其几率大约高出六倍。

结论

预防针对青年的暴力可能会改善萨尔瓦多和全球其他类似情况的心理健康和福祉。