@article{ref1,
title="PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between sexual abuse and substance use risk in juvenile justice-involved youth",
journal="Child maltreatment",
year="2018",
author="Sanders, Jasmyn and Hershberger, Alexandra R. and Kolp, Haley M. and Um, Miji and Aalsma, Matthew C. and Cyders, Melissa A.",
volume="23",
number="3",
pages="226-233",
abstract="Juvenile justice-involved youth face disproportionate rates of sexual abuse, which increases the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs), both of which are associated with poor long-term outcomes. The present study tested two mediation and moderation models, controlling for age, race, and history of physical abuse, with gender as a moderator, to determine whether PTSD symptoms serve as a risk factor and/or mechanism in the relationship between sexual abuse and substance use. Data were examined for 197 juvenile justice-involved youth (mean age = 15.45, 68.9% non-White, 78.4% male) that completed court-ordered psychological assessments. <br><br>RESULTS indicated that PTSD symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and drug (β = 3.44, confidence interval [CI] [0.26, 7.41]; test for indirect effect z = 2.41, p =.02) and alcohol use (β = 1.42, CI [0.20, 3.46]; test for indirect effect z = 2.23, p =.03). PTSD symptoms and gender were not significant moderators. Overall, PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between sexual abuse and SUDs in juvenile justice-involved youth, which suggests viability of targeting PTSD symptoms as a modifiable risk factor to reduce the effects of sexual abuse on substance use in this high-risk population.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1077-5595",
doi="10.1177/1077559517745154",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077559517745154"
}