The Prevalence, Patterns and Correlates of Childhood Trauma Exposure in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young People in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Purpose Childhood trauma (CT) exposure is common, with many young people affected by multiple co-occurring traumas. Methods Participants were a representative sample of 11–19-year-olds (n = 1293), who participated in the largest ever representative survey of youth mental health in Northern Ireland (NI) – the NI Youth Wellbeing Prevalence Survey 2020. This study used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify typologies that were most representative of trauma experience and co-occurrence among young people living in NI. Demographic, parental and deprivation variables were then used within a multinomial logistic regression analysis to describe trauma class membership. Results Over 35% (n = 478) of participants reported exposure to at least one CT, with over 50% (n = 259) of trauma-exposed young people reporting multiple trauma exposure. LCA results provided support for a three-class model; ‘low-exposure’, ‘moderate-exposure: community-victimization’ and ‘high-exposure: sexual-trauma’. While none of the child, parental or familial covariates differentiated members of the ‘moderate-exposure: community-victimization’ from ‘low-exposure’, those in ‘high-exposure: sexual-trauma’ were over four and a half times more likely to belong to a family in receipt of income benefits and over ten times more likely to have experienced some form of out-of-home care. Conclusions This study highlights the presence of three distinct trauma classes in the NI adolescent population. In particular, this study identifies a small minority of young people who have experienced multiple CT’s, including sexually based traumas, with these traumas most likely to have occurred in the context of out-of-home care and familial poverty.

The co-occurrence of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and their associations with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Indian and Malaysian adolescents

“…Consistent with prior studies conducted in Western nations (e.g., Karsberg et al, 2014;O'Donnell et al, 2017;Petersen et al, 2010;Redican et al, 2022;Shevlin & Elklit, 2008), the smallest class identified for both samples was characterized by high levels of exposure to many PTEs. These included severe childhood neglect, serious accident, lifethreatening situations, sexual trauma, and exposure to threats of violence and bullying for the Indian sample and all PTEs for the Malaysian sample.…”

“…Consistent with prior studies (e.g., Karsberg et al, 2014;Petersen et al, 2010;Redican et al, 2022;Shevlin & Elklit, 2008), the second largest class was characterized by moderate levels of exposure to a small collection of PTEs. Events that were heavily endorsed in this class for both samples included death of someone close and threats of violence or bullying, baring semblance to the 'physical assault, threats of violence, and bullying class' identified by Petersen et al (2010) in their sample of Faroese adolescents and the 'physical assault, threats of violence, neglect, and humiliation or persecution from others class' identified by Karsberg et al (2014) in their sample of Greenlandic adolescents.…”

“…Consequently, adolescents may be less willing to disclose sexual traumas to protect the integrity, harmony, and longevity of their collective (Futa et al, 2001). Alternatively, it may be that self-report surveys are not the most appropriate means of enquiring about adolescents' experiences of sexual trauma (Redican et al, 2022). Nevertheless, the high endorsement of sexual trauma within this class for the Indian sample suggests that sexual trauma permeates all potential constellations of PTEs for Indian adolescents and is likely to co-occur with other PTEs such as threats of violence or bullying.…”