Sexual Violence Victimization: Prevalence in Adolescents and Disposition to Forgive
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/ap.20.2.39436Keywords:
negative outcomes, sexual harassment, sexual aggression, sexual abuse, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of othersAbstract
Background/aim: Sexual violence victimization is a public health and social problem with adverse effects on mental health. A survey of Spanish adolescents was designed with the aim of finding out the prevalence of sexual violence victimization and the rela-tionship with forgiveness for its therapeutic effects on mental health. Method: 652 Span-ish 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 victimization and for-giveness. 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 forgive others, and 22.4% less willingness to forgive situations 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 discussed.
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