Acute stress among adloescents and female rape victims measured by ASC-Kids: A pilot study

Background: Rape is considered a stressful trauma and often with durable consequences. How the aftermath of rape is for young adolescents' girls considering acute stress is an overlooked field and remains to be studied. Aims: In this study, we wanted to investigate acute stress among adolescent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nordic journal of psychiatry 2015, Vol.69 (7), p.539
Main Authors: Nilsson, Doris, Nordenstam, Carin, Green, Sara, Wetterhall, Annika, Lundin, Tom, Svedin, Carl Göran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acute stress
adolescents
ASC-Kids
rape psychometrics
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Summary:Background: Rape is considered a stressful trauma and often with durable consequences. How the aftermath of rape is for young adolescents' girls considering acute stress is an overlooked field and remains to be studied. Aims: In this study, we wanted to investigate acute stress among adolescent victims of rape and the psychometric properties of the Acute Stress Checklist for Children (ASC-Kids). Methods: A clinical sample (n = 79) of raped girls, 13-17 years old who had turned to a special rape victim unit for treatment, answered the ASC-Kids. ASC-Kids was also given to a group of minor stressed, non-raped adolescents in the same age range (n = 154) together with the University of California at Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD RI), and the Sense of Coherence Scale 13 (SOC-13). Results: The scores from the groups were compared and showed significant differences in mean values on all the diagnostic criteria of acute stress disorder. In the clinical group, 36.7% obtained full ASD criteria. ASC-Kids could discriminate well between groups. Cronbach's alpha was found to be excellent, and the correlation between the UCLA PTSD RI and ASC-Kids found to be good; both ASC-Kids and UCLA PTSD RI had a good and moderate negative correlation with SOC-13. Conclusion: Adolescent female rape victims were shown to have a very high level of acute stress, and the ASC-Kids was found to have sound psychometrics and can be a valuable screening instrument to support clinicians in their assessments of an indication of adolescents after potentially stressful events such as rape.
ISSN:0803-9488
1502-4725
DOI:10.3109/08039488.2015.1013056