UF Study: Incarcerated Male Adolescents Suffer Ill Effects From Abuse

April 12, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sexually abused teenage boys in jail are just as likely as their female counterparts to suffer from depression, a University of Florida study finds.

The findings challenge the perception that depression among jailed juvenile delinquents is mostly a female problem and point to the need to address it before inmates are released and commit other crimes that land them in jail again, said Angela Gover, a UF criminology professor.

“Depression has been found to be the most common psychological symptom experienced by survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but as a society we’ve focused much more on childhood sexual abuse in females than in males,” she said.

Girls receive more attention partly because they are more likely than boys to be sexual abuse victims, said Gover, whose study was published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology in December.

They also react differently to upsetting events, which makes them more prone to depression, Gover said. “Females are more likely to internalize traumatic events that happen to them in contrast to males, who externalize things,” she said. “Depression is one of those internalizing events. When bad things happen to girls, such as witnessing an act of violence or even seeing a dead animal lying in the road, it may affect them more in terms of making them sad right then and there.”

Gover’s study involved adolescents, ages 11 to 20, who were serving sentences in six juvenile correctional institutions in five states.

“What makes this research unique is that every adolescent in the sample was a serious delinquent and was incarcerated in a juvenile correctional facility,” she said.

Although studies have established a relationship between childhood sexual abuse and mental health problems, few have examined this association using samples of youths who are incarcerated, she said.

“We do know from several studies about violence being passed down through generations that the people who are victimized during childhood are more likely than those who have not been victimized to become involved in abusive relationships, either as an abuser or as a victim,” she said.

Other studies on gender’s effects on depression among sexual abuse victims have been inconclusive, Gover said. That’s partly because of small sample sizes that may not have detected gender differences in a definitive way, she said.

The UF study compared depression levels among 77 females and 32 males who reported having been sexually abused with 345 males and 129 females who said they had not been sexually abused.

To measure the extent of sexual abuse, the study participants were asked a single question: “How often were you personally ever touched in a sexual way or forced to have sex by an adult or older children when you did not want this to happen, including family members and people outside of your family?” Responses were recorded using a five-point scale from “never” to “frequently.”

With a similar five-point scale, depression was measured by how respondents rated statements such as “In the past few weeks, I have felt depressed and very unhappy” and “Sometimes recently I have worried about losing my mind.”

Sexually abused youths were found to be significantly more depressed than those who reported they had not been sexually abused, Gover said.

The findings suggest the importance of addressing the trauma of sexual abuse among incarcerated adolescents because they are at increased risk for depression, Gover said.

“Although the prevalence of sexual abuse is higher among institutionalized females, the negative psychological effects of depression are also present in males,” she said. “Without appropriate assessment and treatment, these youths have a greater likelihood of entering the adult criminal justice system.”

Heather Pfeifer, a criminal justice professor at the University of Baltimore, said Gover’s findings are important. “This study provides critical information to the research on childhood sexual abuse by bringing to light the need to assess the mental health needs of both male and female offenders within the juvenile justice system,” she said. “Unfortunately, many of these youth have a history of abuse, but few have received any mental health services to address the consequences of such trauma. By identifying these issues in both males and females, the system has an opportunity to provide these youth with the treatment they need, thereby helping to reduce their risk of future victimization and offending.”