NCJ Number
118310
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1989) Pages: 139-149
Date Published
1989
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Standardized measures of depression, anxiety, and behavioral deviancy were administered to a nonclinical sample of 67 high school girls (M age= 16.3; SD= 1.28).
Abstract
In addition, an adolescent version of the Sexual Experiences Survey was administered to assess the history of peer sexual victimization. In this sample, 55.0% of the girls had experienced at least one sexual victimization, including 7.5% of them who had experienced completed forcible rape. Data was analyzed via multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression. Sexually victimized girls scored significantly higher than nonvictimized girls on the Trait Anxiety Index and the Beck Depression Inventory, but not on the Antisocial Index of the Jesness Inventory. The extent of victimization contributed significantly to the prediction of both the depression score and the anxiety score. The clinical significance of the reported symptoms is discussed. Although the study was not based on a probability sample, the prevalence of rape was consistent with existing literature. Because the sample was limited to girls who have remained involved in social systems, the measured symptoms probably are a conservative estimate of retrospectively measured postassault standardized test scores among sexually victimized adolescents. 3 tables and 20 references. (Author abstract)