Sexual victimization in minors and mental health issues

INTRODUCTION: Sexual victimization in children and adolescents is a serious form of child abuse that violates the rights of children and adolescents, and that can lead to negative consequences for their mental health. The present research tries to analyze the relation existing between being a victim of sexual violence and mental health problems. METHOD: A total of 519 students participated, aged between 10 and 18 years (M = 12.49; SD = 1.949), belonging to primary and secondary schools, 246 were female (47.39%), and 273 (52.60%) were male. The Sexual Violence Questionnaire-Victim Version (SVQ-VV) was used to assess different types of sexual violence (physical, verbal and cyber violence) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ - self-report version for mental health problems. RESULTS: The results indicate that sexual violence against children is associated with certain mental health problems, both internalizing and externalizing. Furthermore, the likelihood of encountering externalizing problems is twice as high in minors who are victims of physical sexual violences. CONCLUSIONS: This research sheds light on the dynamics of sexual violence against children and adolescents, providing relevant information on the relationship between the type of sexual violence and its consequences on the victim’s mental health. The findings highlight the importance of early detection and differentiated interventions in child and adolescent victims of sexual violence. Preventive policies and multidisciplinary support programs are crucial to mitigate the long-term psychological consequences of sexual violence. Therefore, given the current situation regarding this issue, we believe that training professionals in the detection of different forms of sexual violence is crucial to providing appropriate intervention responses concerning victims’ mental health.