Gender differences in parental risk factors and trauma-related psychological symptoms among adolescents

Introduction. In 2004, child protective service agencies reported that 26.1% of the substantiated 872,000 cases of abuse occurred among youths 12 to 17 years old in the United States. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between gender and parental risk factors (parental mental health, parental substance abuse, and parental incarceration) and trauma-related psychological symptoms in adolescents attending an urban mental health center. Methods. The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) was used to assess 182 primarily African American (67%) female (61%) adolescents with a mean age of 12.8 (SD=1.9). More than 24% of the subjects experienced physical abuse, 28% were sexually abused, 7% were emotionally abused, and 46% experienced neglect. Analyses were stratified by gender and regression models were adjusted for age and race. Results. Maternal mental health was associated with depressive (8.0, p=0.01) and dissociation-overt (6.8, p= 0.01) symptoms among females. Parental mental health problems were associated with sexual concerns-distress (11.8, p=0.05) among females. Paternal incarceration was associated with increased anger (8.2, p=0 .01) and maternal incarceration was associated with increased dissociation-fantasy (8.8, p=0.02) symptoms in adolescent males. Conclusion. These data suggest that adolescent females are more likely to experience depressive and dissociative symptoms and sexual concerns if there are parental mental health problems. Adolescent males are more likely to experience anger and dissociative symptoms if there is a history of parental incarceration. These findings may assist clinicians in identifying target areas for treatment based on the client's gender and parental risk factors.