Psychological Impact and Differences in Child and Adolescent Victims of Sexual Violence in South Korea: Using Data From a Sunflower Center in South Korea From 2015 to 2022.

Objective: Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a serious social problem. The characteristics of child and adolescent victims differ based on their varying developmental processes. Therefore, we conducted a comparative analysis to assess the same.

Methods: Data were collected from victims of sexual violence between 2015 and 2022, from a Sunflower Center, which is a government-sponsored center for victims of sexual violence. The participants were classified into two groups: children under age 12 and adolescents over age 13 years. To compare and analyze data, we collected demographic information, information related to victimization events, and scores on the Children's Depression Inventory, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale. A descriptive analysis, χ 2 test, Fisher's exact test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed.

Results: Among 255 participants, 95 and 160 were children and adolescents, respectively. The percentage of forced molestation was significantly higher in children at 71.6% (n=68, p<0.001). Children included significantly more male participants (14.7%, n=14, p=0.007) than adolescents. Significant differences were observed between children and adolescents' depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress scores (p<0.001). Compared with children, adolescents demonstrated an adjusted odds ratio of 2.9 for high post-traumatic stress symptoms, 2.26 for high depressive symptoms, and 3.0 for high anxiety symptoms.

Conclusion: We identified differences in the characteristics of sexual violence victims, particularly children and adolescents, and found that adolescent victims were more vulnerable to the psychological repercussions of abuse than child victims.