Citation

Lian Q, Zuo X, Yu C, Lou C, Tu X, Zhou W. Children (Basel) 2022; 9(8).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/children9081221

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Gender dissatisfaction is often linked to adverse health outcomes and is an under-researched area of adolescent health. The aim of our study was to examine the associations of gender dissatisfaction with adolescent mental distress and sexual victimization. We conducted a cross-sectional study in April 2019 using a computerized self-administered questionnaire to collect data on the gender dissatisfaction, mental distress, and sexual victimization among Chinese adolescents. We used multivariate logistic models to estimate sex-stratified adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations of gender dissatisfaction with mental distress and sexual victimization. Our study involved 538 female and 556 male students from grades 7 to 11. Among the female students, gender dissatisfaction was significantly associated with depression (AOR, 2.04, 95%CI, 1.17-3.58), anxiety (AOR, 2.13, 95%CI, 2.00-2.27), suicidal ideation (AOR, 2.36, 95%CI, 2.02-2.76), sexting victimization (AOR, 1.67, 95%CI, 1.11-2.51), and nonphysical sexual harassment (AOR, 1.72, 95%CI, 1.08-2.76). Among the male students, gender dissatisfaction was significantly associated with oral--genital contact (AOR, 5.86, 95%CI, 2.74-12.54), attempted sexual assault (AOR, 9.63, 95%CI, 6.91-13.42), and completed sexual assault (AOR, 14.71, 95%CI, 1.16-187.33). Our findings suggest gender dissatisfaction is associated with adolescent mental distress and sexual victimization, underscoring the importance of implementing comprehensive sexual education with gender perspectives in China. © 2022 by the authors.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; human; student; adolescents; mental health; female; male; China; suicidal ideation; depression; prevalence; sex difference; suicide attempt; sexual harassment; major clinical study; disease association; distress syndrome; marriage; sexual behavior; social problem; anxiety disorder; self concept; cross-sectional study; Chinese; adolescent disease; educational status; Article; sexual assault; sexual victimization; parental marital status; sexting; mental distress; gender dissatisfaction; nonphysical sexual harassment; oral genital contact; parental education attainment