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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Jay G Silverman, PhD, Department of Health and Social Behavior/Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard School of Public Health, 1552 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02120, 617-496-1087, jsilverm@hsph.harvard.edu, Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, School of Public Health, Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, Marci Feldman, MSEd, Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, and Ameera Daniel, MSW, Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard School of Public Health, 1552 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02120.
Very little is understood of early experiences of sexual violence, especially those experienced by young girls. This cross-sectional study of female third through fifth grade urban elementary school students (ages 9-12 years, N=600) assessed depression, experiences of violence across a broad range of domains (e.g., witnessing violence at home, in the community, among peers at school, peer experiences of dating violence and sexual harassment, personal victimization through violence at school, in the community, and through dating) and experiences of sexual harassment. Results provide an estimate of the prevalence of sexual harassment among young girls and association of such experiences with current depression after controlling for the effects of other forms of violence exposure. This study highlights a source of risk where no intervention currently exists, and helps to broaden our understanding of women's experiences of sexual violence across the lifespan.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Sexual Assault, Child/Adolescent Mental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.