The role of sexual abuse, social support and positive perspective towards school on adolescents’ psychological well-being

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of sexual abuse and protective factors on adolescents’ psychological well-being and whether the effect differed between genders. The protective factors were in the form of social support from parents and friends, as well as having a positive perspective towards school. The present study uses data from the national survey, Youth in Iceland 2016, conducted by the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA). A random sample of 2039 secondary school students, was used. The results were determined using multiple regression. The results indicate that sexually abused adolescents experienced lower psychological well-being, all other variables held constant. The protective factors were connected with better psychological well-being of adolescents. However, parental support was related to higher psychological well-being for sexually abused than non-sexually abused adolescents, and positive perspective towards school was related to higher psychological well-being among non-sexually abused adolescents. Finally, the relationship between positive perspective towards school and psychological well-being was stronger for girls, than for boys. These findings indicate the importance of social support and having a positive perspective towards school on adolescents’ psychological well-being in general, and that parental support is important for sexually abused adolescents’ psychological well-being. Keywords: sexual abuse, psychological well-being, parental support, friend support, positive perspective towards school, adolescents; Markmið rannsoknarinnar var að kanna tengsl kynferðisofbeldis og verndandi þatta a andlega velliðan unglinga og hvort tengslin vaeru mismunandi eftir kynjum. Verndandi þaettirnir voru i formi stuðnings fra foreldrum og vinum, auk þess að hafa jakvaett viðhorf til skola. I þessari rannsokn voru notuð gogn fra Rannsoknum og greiningu ur konnun þeirra, Ungt folk a Islandi 2016. Valin voru af handahofi svor 2039 grunnskolanema. Niðurstoður voru skoðaðar með margviðri aðhvarfsgreiningu. Helstu niðurstoður rannsoknarinnar leiddu i ljos að unglingar sem hofðu orðið fyrir kynferðisofbeldi upplifðu minni andlega velliðan, gefið að ahrifum hinna frumbreytanna var haldið fostum. Tengsl voru a milli verndandi þattanna og betri andlegrar velliðan. Foreldrastuðningur hafði sterkari tengsl við andlega velliðan þeirra unglinga sem hofðu orðið fyrir kynferðisofbeldi, en jakvaett viðhorf til skola hafði sterkari tengsl við andlega velliðan þeirra unglinga sem hofðu ekki orðið fyrir kynferðisofbeldi. Þar að auki var sambandið milli þess að hafa jakvaett viðhorf til skola og andlegrar velliðan, sterkara fyrir stelpur en straka. Þessar niðurstoður benda til þess að það að fa stuðning fra foreldrum og vinum, auk þess að hafa jakvaett viðhorf til skola, se mikilvaegt fyrir andlega velliðan unglinga. Einnig að foreldrastuðningur se mikilvaegur fyrir andlega velliðan unglinga sem hafa orðið fyrir kynferðisofbeldi. Lykilhugtok: kynferðisofbeldi, andleg velliðan,…