1 Final Project Angelica Hermes-Hawkins SOCW 6111: Advanced Clinical Practice I Instructor Jan Ivery August 5, 2021
2 Reviewing the research has indicated that depression is one of the leading causes of disability in children and adolescents (Vibhakar et al., 2019). This is true for children who have gone through trauma. Examples of such events include sexual abuse, physical abuse, death, being linked to a long-term illness, natural disasters, community violence, and family violence (Vibhakar et al., 2019). Research has indicated that adolescents who experienced such events are more likely to be diagnosed with major depression than those who have not experienced such events (Vibhakar et al., 2019 ). The traumatic event that will be discussed is sexual abuse. Many research articles have correlated sexual abuse and depression. But it is essential to understand why this is so to serve the population better. It has been theorized that an adolescent exposed to sexual abuse may be experiencing high levels of guilt, shame, and helplessness. (Sekowski et al., 2020). These children/adolescents have experienced sexual abuse from a known family member or close friend on occasions. This feeling of helplessness subsequently leads to feeling shame and guilt. (Sekowski et al., 2020). It is also believed that these feelings result from difficulty in processing the trauma and damaged relationship. As a result of such challenges, adolescents turn such feelings inward, and the feelings of helplessness, shame, and guilt are strengthened. (Sekowski et al., 2020). The strengthening of such feelings subsequently leads to increased depression and suicidal behaviors (Sekowski et al., 2020). The persistence of depression because of sexual abuse can have severe impacts that go on until adulthood. As a result of the depression stemming from sexual abuse, adolescents may develop harmful behaviors such as risky sexual behaviors, aggression, self-harm, criminal activity, negative behavior outbursts, sleep disturbances, social withdrawal, etc. (Narang et al., 2019). Violence & Depression The next traumatic event that will be discussed pertains to violence. Such violence includes physical assault of the adolescent, the witnessing of family violence, and that of community violence. Research has indicated that the main types of violence linked to depression are physical abuse by parents and witnessing domestic violence between caregivers (Kassis et al., 2013). It is believed that such high rates of this disorder among this population are a direct result of parenting styles and attachments to such figures (Kassis et al., 2013). Research has
3 indicated that Adolescents that experience low parental support/attachment and inconsistent or authoritarian parenting styles experience higher rates of depression and anxiety in every country (Kassis et al., 2013). Research has also suggested that community violence and parental violence tend to co-occur (Zinzow et al., 2009). One study revealed that major depressive disorder was more prevalent than PTSD among individuals who experienced both forms of violence (Zinzow
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