Faculty Collaboration Database

Comparing mental health disorders among sex trafficked children and three groups of youth at high-risk for trafficking: A dual retrospective cohort and scoping review. Child Abuse Negl 2020 Feb;100:104196

Date

10/03/2019

Pubmed ID

31575432

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104196

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85072655747 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   16 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals at high-risk for trafficking are often subject to preexisting complex trauma that only intensifies during the trafficking experience. This greatly increases their risk of mental illness, although the actual prevalence of mental health disorders in children who are sex trafficked remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of mental health diagnoses among a sample of youth identified as being sex trafficked, and to discuss these rates in relation to other high-risk groups reported in the literature.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 143 female and male child trafficking victims in Wisconsin.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed individual medical records, identifying mental health diagnoses and behaviors. The results were compared to summarized prevalence data for mental health disorders in sex trafficked, runaway children, juvenile offenders, and foster care children identified via a scoping review.

RESULTS: We observed significantly higher rates of ADHD (52.4%, p < 0.0001), bipolar disorder (26.6%, p < 0.0001), and PTSD (19.6%, p < 0.05 to p < 0.0001) in our sample of trafficked youth compared to all high-risk groups, as well as for depression (45.5%), anxiety (19.6%), conduct disorder (19.6%), ODD (25.9%), and psychosis (14.0%) relative to multiple groups individually.

CONCLUSIONS: The complex trauma suffered by child survivors of sex trafficking can impart numerous effects with overlapping symptomatology of many mental health disorders. Survivors' adaptive responses to complex trauma may lead to improper diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders at the expense of prompt access to trauma-focused therapies. Alternative diagnoses and treatments of this complex dysfunction are discussed.

Author List

Palines PA, Rabbitt AL, Pan AY, Nugent ML, Ehrman WG

Authors

Wendi G. Ehrman MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Amy Y. Pan PhD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Angela Rabbitt DO Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Anxiety
Child
Child Abuse, Sexual
Crime Victims
Depression
Female
Homeless Youth
Human Trafficking
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Survivors
Wisconsin