Consequences of Violent Victimization for Native American Youth in Early Adulthood

Native American youth are at an elevated risk of violent victimization. And because of their vulnerable position in society, they may also be at risk of experiencing a host of adverse consequences as a result of being victimized. Accordingly, using a subsample of 558 Native American youth and two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (49.8 % female; 12–19 years at Wave I; 19–26 years at Wave III), we examined the effects of violent victimization during adolescence on a range of outcomes in early adulthood (poor health, depressive symptoms, suicidality, financial hardship, violent and property offending, alcohol problems, hard drug use, and marijuana use). We also assessed whether youth’s attachments to family and to school moderate the effects of victimization on these outcomes. The results showed that adolescent victimization is linked to a small number of outcomes—poor health, depressive symptoms, and violent offending—and that the protective effects of social attachments are not widespread. Specifically, family attachments moderated the effects of victimization on poor health and depressive symptoms, and school attachments moderated the effects of victimization on property offending. These findings suggest that the consequences of victimization and the protective effects of social attachments may differ for Native American youth, and that further quantitative and qualitative research is necessary to understand these patterns.