Polyvictimization, income, and ethnic differences in trauma-related mental health during adolescence

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate ethnic differences in trauma-related mental health symptoms among adolescents, and test the mediating and moderating effects of polyvictimization (i.e., number of types of traumas/victimizations experienced by an individual) and household income, respectively.

Methods: Data were drawn from the first wave of the National Survey of Adolescents-replication study (NSA-R), which took place in the US in 2005 and utilized random digit dialing to administer a telephone survey to adolescents ages 12-17. Participants included in the current analyses were 3312 adolescents (50.2 % female; mean age 14.67 years) from the original sample of 3614 who identified as non-Hispanic White (n = 2346, 70.8 %), non-Hispanic Black (n = 557, 16.8 %), or Hispanic (n = 409, 12.3 %). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test hypothesized models.

Results: Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants reported higher levels of polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms (symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression) compared to non-Hispanic Whites, though the effect sizes were small (γ ≤ 0.07). Polyvictimization fully accounted for the differences in mental health symptoms between non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites, and partially accounted for the differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. The relation between polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms was higher for low-income youth than for high-income youth.

Conclusions: Disparities in trauma exposure largely accounted for racial/ethnic disparities in trauma-related mental health. Children from low-income family environments appear to be at greater risk of negative mental health outcomes following trauma exposure compared to adolescents from high-income families.

Figure 1

Initial Model Depicting Ethnic Differences in Trauma-related Mental Health. Gamma weights, which in structural equation modeling are similar to regression coefficients, are presented. Lambda weights, which estimate how much a manifest item (e.g., symptom counts) loads onto a latent factor (e.g., trauma-related mental health), are also presented.

Figure 2

Structural Model of Polyvictimization Mediating Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Outcomes. Gamma weights, which in structural equation modeling are similar to regression coefficients, are presented.

Figure 3

Multigroup model showing differences between poverty and non-poverty groups. Gamma weights, which in structural equation modeling are similar to regression coefficients, that are located above paths pertain to the non-poverty group and gamma weights below the path pertain to the poverty group.