Prevalence and mental health outcomes of homicide survivors in a representative US sample of adolescents: data from the 2005 National Survey of Adolescents

Abstract

Background Each homicide leaves behind several friends and family members, or homicide survivors. However, limited information is available on the impact of homicide on adolescent survivors. The purpose of the current study was to identify the prevalence of homicide survivorship and to determine mental health outcomes within a sample of U.S. adolescent survivors. Methods A nationally representative sample of American adolescents (N=3,614) between the ages of 12–17 completed structured telephone interviews assessing homicide survivorship and mental health consequences including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Results Reported prevalence within this sample of losing a loved one to criminal homicide was 9%, losing a loved one to vehicular homicide was 7%, and losing a loved one to both types of homicide was 2%. Logistic regression analyses found that adolescents who reported being homicide survivors were significantly more likely to report depression, drug use, and alcohol abuse after controlling for demographic factors and other violence exposure. Conclusions If the results from this study are generalizable to the US population, roughly 1 in 5 American adolescents may be impacted by homicide. Further, adolescents exposed to such a loss are at increased risk for mental health sequalae. Results suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to address the needs of these often underserved victims.

Psychosocial functioning after losing a close friend in an extreme terror incident

“…The intensity of the grief reactions may then be better predicted by the emotional relation one had to the deceased (Pfefferbaum et al, 2000;Rheingold et al, 2012;Servaty-Seib & Pistole, 2006-2007. Previous studies have also found that for some the loss of a friend can result in more severe grief reactions than the loss of an extended family member (Holland & Neimeyer, 2011;Pfefferbaum et al, 2000;Servaty-Seib & Pistole, 2006-2007.…”

Prolonged grief symptomatology following violent loss: the mediating role of meaning

“…These unique features of the violent death story may impede meaning making as they challenge particularly core or fundamental orienting beliefs about the world as a safe and fair place where events are somewhat predictable and happen for a reason (Currier, Holland, & Neimeyer, 2009; Janoff-Bulman, 1989; Lichtenthal, Currier, Neimeyer, & Keesee, 2010). As result, there is an ongoing struggle to make meaning of the violent death story, often experienced in terms of intrusive negative thoughts or imagery related to the death event (Baddeley et al, 2015; Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Rheingold, Zinzow, Hawkins, Saunders, & Kilpatrick, 2012; Rynearson & Correa, 2008; Steil & Ehlers, 2000; Zinzow, Rheingold, Byczkiewicz, Saunders, & Kilpatrick, 2011). We propose that incongruence between the violent death story and the perception of the world as fair, predictable, and safe is likely to disrupt meaning associated with the sense of peace subscale of the GMRI.…”

Exposição de adolescentes à violência em diferentes contextos: relações com a saúde mental

“…Ainda houve pesquisas que tiveram por objetivo investigar exposição a eventos traumáticos, eventos estressores e experiências de guerra (Al-Krenawi, Graham, & Kanat-Maymon, 2009;Betancourt, Agnew-Blais, et al, 2010;Betancourt, Brennan, et al, 2010;Eggerman & Panter-Brick, 2010;Hasanović et al, 2009;Rheingold, Zinzow, Hawkins, Saunders, & Kilpatrick, 2012). Além disso, outro estudo investigou ambas as formas de exposição à violência (direta e indireta; Benetti et al, 2010).…”

“…Além disso, as investigações ressaltaram as consequências negativas dos vários tipos de exposição e formas de violência, na saúde mental dos adolescentes, independente do contexto de desenvolvimento, embora alguns estudos tenham encontrado maior associação quando a exposição é intrafamiliar (Benetti et al, 2010;Nguyen et al, 2010). A maioria dos estudos analisou a saúde mental através da investigação de sintomas de doença mental ou de instrumentos padronizados que incluíam sintomas descritos no DSM-IV, como por exemplo, depressão (Benetti et al, 2010;Jenkins et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2010), ansiedade (Benetti et al, 2010;Jenkins et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2010), somatização (Jenkins et al, 2009), TEPT (Hasanović et al, 2009;Jenkins et al, 2009;Rheingold et al, 2012;Voisin & Neilands, 2010;Zinzow et al, 2009), uso de álcool e outras drogas (Haber & Toro, 2009;Rheingold et al, 2012) e comportamento sexual de risco (Houck et al, 2010;Voisin & Neilands, 2010). Além disso, grande parte dos estudos utilizou a categorização sintomas de internalização (depressão e ansiedade) e externalização (agressão) como indicadores de saúde mental (Al-Krenawi et al, 2009;Benetti et al, 2010;Betancourt, Agnew-Blais, et al, 2010;Copeland-Linder et al, 2010;Haber & Toro, 2009;Jenkins et al, 2009).…”

“…De modo geral, os resultados apontaram que a violência esteve associada com o aumento dos sintomas de transtornos mentais, ideação suicida, vivências traumáticas, desajustamento psicossocial, problemas externalizantes, e comportamento agressivo (Benetti et al, 2010;Betancourt, Agnew-Blais, et al, 2010;Betancourt, Brennan, et al, 2010;Cano et al, 2009;Cope-land-Linder et al, 2010;Haber & Toro, 2009;Lambert et al, 2012;Rheingold et al, 2012). Alguns estudos relataram diferenças observadas entre os sexos relacionadas à violência e suas consequências para a saúde mental, tais como: maior uso de armas e violência física entre meninos (Walsh et al, 2013); testemunhar violência esteve mais associado a comportamentos agressivos em meninos (Lambert et al, 2012); maior exposição à violência comunitária em meninos (Voisin & Neilands, 2010), assim como maiores níveis de depressão em meninas (Bach & Louw, 2010).…”