[Prevalence of adverse and victimization experiences in adult people with severe mental illness in Barcelona]

Abstract

Objective: To describe the extension of the adverse experiences, including victimization, lived in childhood and adulthood in a sample of people with severe mental illness residing in Barcelona, Spain.

Method: Descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional study. Adverse and victimization experiences were assessed using 26 items from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Items were included obtain information regarding victimization during adulthood. Seventy-four people with severe mental illness were interviewed (median age: 42.03 years; standard deviation: 9.60).

Results: All participants reported at least two victimization experiences throughout their lifetime. The most frequent experiences were conventional crimes (87.8%) and victimization by caregivers (86.5%). Before age 18, half of the participants reported having experienced physical violence by their caregivers (52.7%) and almost one out of three reported to have been victim of sexual abuse (32.4%). Women were almost 13 times more likely to experience sexual victimization than men throughout their lifetime (odds ratio: 12.75; 95% confidence interval: 4.19-38.71).

Conclusions: Victimization experienced by people with severe mental illness is a widespread problem that has received little attention. The results of this study are consistent with those obtained in previous investigations and underscore the need to translate this knowledge into medical practice into medical practice, considering them in order to develop treatments with a comprehensive approach to mental health.

Keywords: Abuso sexual infantil; Adult survivors of child adverse events; Adultos sobrevivientes de eventos adversos infantiles; Adverse childhood experiences; Child abuse; Experiencias adversas en la infancia; Hospitales psiquiátricos; Mental disorders; Psychiatric hospitals; Sexual; Trastornos mentales.