Problem statement: Experiences of childhood abuse and neglect have been often pointed out as risks factors in adolescence and adulthood. Experiencing or witnessing violence can lead to the harmful use of alcohol as a way of coping (WHO, 2006). This study examines the effects of reported family violence experiences and bullying on the life course to adulthood, with an emphasis on risk behavior and mental health problems of youth in Romania. Method: Data are drawn from a large-scale, national representative longitudinal sample of 3524 senior high school students, followed by a second wave, two years after, with 1497 respondents. The analyses accounted for gender, urban-rural differences, socioeconomic deprivation, experiences of violence (physical, emotional and sexual violence, neglect, experience with domestic violence and bullying) and risk behaviors described as alcohol and drug abuse, as well as depression and anxiety.
Results: Physical abuse was reported by 14.5%, neglect by 13,1%,domestic violence by 12.3% of the sample; 32.6% reported at least one form of violence in the family. Bullying was reported by 57% of the sample. Using logistic regression analysis models we found that reported past violence increased the power of the explanatory models for drug consumption, frequent alcohol consumption and mental health disorders. Feeling neglected and experiences of domestic violence in childhood came out to have a stronger influence on drug consumption, compared to physical violence. In our logistic regression model, gender, rural-urban differences, violence in the family, bullying and depressive reactions explain 11% of variance in drug consumption and 20.5% in alcohol abuse. Implications: Besides the proof that experiences of childhood violence have a significant role in substance abuse and mental health problems in young adulthood, this research showed that gender is the most relevant denominator of outcomes of behavior and mental health problems in young adulthood.
