Session: Youth Vulnerability, Risk, and Health Outcomes Among Youth Who Experience Childhood Violence: Data to Inform Prevention (Society for Prevention Research 27th Annual Meeting)

Session Introduction: Each year, more than 1 billion children around the world are exposed to some form of violence. The evidence supporting the negative impacts of violence on the health and well-being of children across the life course is insurmountable. Children of lower SES and ethnic/racial minority status are disproportionately affected by both child maltreatment and its associated outcomes. Thus, a comprehensive approach to improving health equity must consider violence prevention as a key component of combating racial and socioeconomic disparities affecting health. Specifically, a focus on violence prevention by identifying and addressing youth vulnerabilities is a primary strategy for addressing the deleterious outcomes associated with violence exposure. This symposium will examine youth vulnerabilities for a range of potentially traumatic experiences among youth in the United States and low- and middle-income countries.

The first paper, "Complex Childhood Trauma as a Life Course Indicator of Potentially Traumatic Experiences in Adolescence" uses nationally representative data from a high-risk sample of adolescents in the United States who experienced maltreatment during early childhood to provide information on the prevalence and correlates of experiencing a range of potentially traumatic events in adolescence.

The second paper, "Gender and Age Effects in Past-Year Experiences of Violence Amongst Adolescents in Five Countries" highlights patterns in changing risk for violence using nationally representative data from five low- and middle-income countries to assess the effects of age and sex as risk factors for certain types of violence, including sexual and intimate partner violence.

The third paper, "Sexual Violence Experience Among Nigerian Girls and Young Women: What is the Role of Early Sexual Debut, Multiple Sex Partnership, and Traditional Gender Role Beliefs?" presents nationally representative data to examine behavioral and psychological risk factors associated with sexual violence perpetration against girls and young women in Nigeria.

Drawing on a range of secondary data sources, these three papers present a life course perspective for victims of violence, highlight the relationship between early influences and later outcomes, examine individual life trajectories within a societal context, and will conclude by highlighting implications for both practice and policy. At the conclusion of the presentations, the discussant will deliver summary statements and moderate a discussion between the presenters and the symposium attendees. It is expected that the diversity of populations (US and Global) and range of outcomes will be appealing to the SPR Annual Meeting participants.