Référence
Genin, Maeva and Lanctôt, Nadine and Pascuzzo, Katherine and Lemieux, Annie. (2026) A Typological and Comparative Analysis of Anger and Aggressive Behaviour in Sexually Exploited and Non-Sexually-Exploited Adolescent Girls in Residential Care.
Résumé
Background: This study explored the links between anger and sexual exploitation, as anger is a central emotional response to interpersonal trauma and chronic victimization. Objective: The objectives were to 1) compare adolescent who had been sexually exploited with those who had not, in terms of anger dimensions (intensity, expression, regulation, rumination) and aggressive behaviour, and 2) identify anger-related profiles and determine whether having experienced sexual exploitation differentiated between profiles. Participants: The sample was composed of 319 adolescent girls placed in residential care in [Blind_for_review], including 108 who reported having been sexually exploited. Methods: Measures included sexual exploitation, anger dimensions and aggressive behaviour. Analyses of covariance addressed the first objective, while latent profile analysis using Mplus (R3STEP) addressed the second. Results: Compared to non-exploited girls, sexually exploited adolescent girls reported a greater tendency to experience anger (Eta² = 0.03, p < .01), more anger hostile expression (Eta² = 0.02, p < .05), more anger repression (Eta² = 0.02, p < .01), more anger rumination (Eta² = 0.03, p < .01), and displayed more aggressive physical behaviour (Eta² = 0.01, p < .05). The latent profile analysis identified three profiles: Balanced (44.0%), Controlled (25.0%) and Expressive (31.0%). The Expressive profile, characterized by the greatest difficulties with anger, had the highest proportion (41.8%) of girls who had been sexually exploited, compared to the Controlled profile (d = 2.47, p < .05). Conclusions: These results underscore the importance of understanding anger in sexually exploited adolescent girls, an understudied area despite relevance for trauma-informed care.
