Sexual Harassment in Middle and High School Children and Effects on Physical and Mental Health

Abstract

Sexual harassment can be physical interaction and touching, as well as, psychological, environmental, or via Internet and text messaging. An online survey in an urban clinic asked children, aged 12 to 18 years the following: demographic data, height and weight, chronic medical conditions, healthcare use, questions concerning sexual harassment-witnessed and exposure, and finally questions from the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-35). Overall, 124 of 210 (59%) of the 12- to 18-year-olds surveyed had experienced sexual harassment, with the predominance being female 69% (80/116) versus 48% (49/92) male. Participants who had experienced sexual harassment were significantly more likely to score positive for psychological impairment than those who had not experienced sexual harassment (chi-square test P < .001; odds ratio: 4.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.9-11.8). There was a borderline significant association between elevated body mass index and having experienced sexual harassment (2-sample t test P = .08). Sexual harassment has a direct correlation to psychological impairment in adolescents, especially females.

Sexual harassment and menstrual disorders among Italian university women: A cross-sectional observational study

“…Cortina and colleagues [13] found a rate of 50% among female university students in the United States. In another sample of 118 adolescents 12–18 years old, 69% had experienced sexual harassment [28]. In the control group of a Swedish study of female elite athletes 15–39 years old, 59% reported sexual harassment [29].…”

A Bioecological Theory of Sexual Harassment of Girls: Research Synthesis and Proposed Model

“…Research has shown that 90% of adolescent girls have been the target of sexual harassment at least once, and between one in four and one in five women in college have been the victim of sexual assault (Leaper & Brown, 2008;Muehlenhard et al, 2017). Research has documented that being the target of sexual harassment and assault has longterm consequences on physical, mental, and emotional health, such as disordered eating, depression, anxiety, fear, anger, humiliation, distrust, and post-traumatic stress syndrome (e.g., Chiodo et al, 2009;Eom et al, 2015;Goldstein et al, 2007;Jina & Thomas, 2013). Despite the severity and longevity of consequences for the victims of sexual harassment and assault, there are rarely consequences for the perpetrators.…”

Disordered Eating Behaviors and Sexual Harassment in Italian Male and Female University Students

“…Sexual harassment is frequent among young people (Bucchianeri, Eisenberg, Wall, Piran, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2014; Eom, Restaino, Perkins, Neveln, & Harrington, 2015). Some studies show increased prevalence among female respondents (Clear et al, 2014; Eom et al, 2015; Petersen & Hyde, 2013) and others show different prevalence among males and females, according to the type of harassment considered (Bucchianeri et al, 2014; Chiodo, Wolfe, Crooks, Hughes, & Jaffe, 2009).…”