Sexual violence victimizationPrevalence in adolescents and disposition to forgive

  1. Verónica Marcos 1
  2. Laura Treskow 2
  3. Robert Kuester
  4. Dolores Seijo 1
  1. 1 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
    info

    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

    Santiago de Compostela, España

    ROR https://ror.org/030eybx10

  2. 2 Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony
    info

    Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony

    Hanóver, Alemania

    ROR https://ror.org/04kthgc59

Revista:
Acción psicológica

ISSN: 1578-908X

Ano de publicación: 2023

Título do exemplar: Investigación aplicada en psicología jurídica y forense

Volume: 20

Número: 2

Páxinas: 113-124

Tipo: Artigo

Outras publicacións en: Acción psicológica

Resumo

Antecedentes/objetivos: Sexual violence victimization is a public health and social problem with adverse effects on mental health. A survey of Spanish adolescents was de-signed with the aim of finding out the prevalence of sexual violence victimization and the relationship with for-giveness for its therapeutic effects on mental health. Method: 652 Spanish adolescents, 51.5% girls (n=336) and 48.5% boys (n=316), aged 13-17 years (M=15.38, SD=1.01), answered to measures of sexual violence vic-timization and forgiveness. Results: The results revealed that 2 out of 5 adolescents (37.6%, 95% CI [.339, 413]) experienced sexual violence, with girls significantly more likely (43.2% vs. 31.6%). In addition, adolescent victims of sexual violence reported significantly less willingness to forgive than non-victims, quantified as 20.1% less willingness to self-forgive, 17.2% less willingness to for-give others, and 22.4% less willingness to forgive situa-tions beyond their control. Furthermore, it was found that the different types of victimization share a lot of variances, i.e., they occur together. Conclusions: The implications of the findings with regard to sexual assault prevention and risk-reduction, and of the victims' unwillingness to forgive in dealing with adverse mental health outcomes are dis-cussed.

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