Kilpatrick et al.'s study of violence, PTSD, and comorbidity in adolescents

Child Sexual Abuse in Kilpatrick, et al. (2003)

This work in writing conducted an article review of the work of Kilpatrick, et al. (2003).

The article under review in this work in writing is that written by Kilpatrick, et al. (2003) entitled "Violence and Risk of PTSD, Major Depression, Substance Abuse / Dependence and Comorbidity: Results From the National Survey of Adolescents." This article reports a study involving 4,034 youth ages 12 to 17 years of age. Sample selection and interviewing are reported to have been conducted by "Schulman, Ronca and Eucuvalas, Inc." (Kilpatrick, et al., 2003) It is reported that a telephone interview that was highly structured in nature was designed for the purpose of collecting information "across several domains, including demographic and familial variables, trauma history and the three disorders: (1) PTSD; (2) MDE; and (3) SA/D. (Kilpatrick, et al., 2003)

Methods

It is reported by Kilpatrick et al. (2003) that race and ethnicity were used in risk and protective-factor variables and stated specifically is "For risk-factor analyses, four dummy-coded variables refer to each of the following participant groups: African-American, non-Hispanic (n _590, 15.1%); Native American, non-Hispanic (n _ 139, 3.6%); Asian-American, non-Hispanic (n _ 46, 1.2%); and Hispanic (n _ 311, 8.0%). Caucasian, non-Hispanic participants (n _ 2820, 72.2%) served as the reference group." (Kilpatrick, et al., 2003)

III. Sexual Assault Defined

It is reported that sexual assault was defined as follows: "forced (a) vaginal or anal penetration by an object, finger, or penis; (b) oral sex; (c) touching of the respondent's breasts or genitalia; or (d) respondents' touching of another person's genitalia. Physical assault was defined as having been (a) attacked or threatened with a gun, knife, or some other weapon; (b) attacked by another person with perceived intent to kill or seriously injure; (c) beaten and injured (i.e., "hurt pretty badly") by another person; (d) spanked so forcefully that the respondent sustained welts or bruises, or required medical care; or (e) cut, burned, or tied up by a caregiver as a punitive consequence." (Kilpatrick, et al., 2003) Also included in the study was 'witnessed violence', which is largely self-explanatory Each adolescent was asked close-ended questions to ensure that the answers provided by the participants would not result in risk to the adolescent. The adolescents receiving a certification for having participated in the 'National Survey of Adolescents' and a check in the amount of $5.00.

V. Findings of the Study

The prevalence, comordity and demographic and social correlates of PTSD, MDE and SA/D with a national probability sample of adolescents including major findings including: (1) prevalence of PTSD, MDE, and SA/D were high in this young population; (b) 15.5% of boys and 19.3% of girls had at least one of the three diagnoses within the year prior to the interviews; (c) nearly three fourths of all adolescents diagnosed with PTSD had at least one comorbid diagnosis; (d) relative to race/ethnicity, demographic characteristics of gender and age tended to be more consistently linked to outcomes; (e) interpersonal violence increased risk of these disorders and of comorbidity after controlling for demographic variables and familial substance use problems; and (f) associations between interpersonal violence variables and comorbid diagnoses tended to be identified with greater consistency and strength than associations between interpersonal violence and noncomorbid diagnoses." (Kilpatrick et al., 2003) Findings show that lifetime PTSD prevalence was higher for female adolescents than for male adolescents stated at 10.3% and 6.3% respectively. The study reports that the findings contrasted those stated in the work of Kessler et al. who reported that boy's lifetime-PTSD estimates were lower than those reported by Kilpatrick et al. (2003) however, it is the belief of Kilpatrick et al. (2003) that this is due to the "difference in structure of the PTSD interviews used in each study." (2003) Specifically, Kessler is reported to have focused on linking symptoms and specific stressor events rather than assessing PTSD symptoms and stressor events separately as accomplished by Kilpatrick et al. (2003) in the present report of the study under review in this work in writing.