Childhood maltreatment class and sexually violent behavior among university men in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Sexual violence against women remains a global public health problem, with Southeast Asia having among the highest rates of violence victimization globally. Exposure to violence in adolescence--a highly prevalent experience in Vietnam--is associated with later perpetration of violence against others. However, childhood maltreatment as a latent construct is understudied, with most analyses focusing on theoretical categories, potentially missing key patterns of victimization, particularly poly-victimization. Poor understanding of these experience limits researchers’ ability to predict and intervene upon cyclical perpetration of violence. This study aims to identify latent classes of childhood maltreatment, and to test associations between class membership and sexually violent behavior during the first 12 months of university in a sample of Vietnamese men. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Heterosexual and bisexual men aged 18–24 matriculating into two universities in Hanoi were recruited for the randomized controlled trial of GlobalConsent, a six-module online sexual-violence prevention program. Participants (N = 793) completed a baseline survey, were randomized 1:1 to GlobalConsent or attention control, and were invited to complete post-test surveys at six-months post-baseline and 12-months post-baseline. Validated scales were employed to assess childhood maltreatment and past-six-month sexually violent behavior at each post-test. Latent class analysis identified four classes of childhood maltreatment: Limited-to-no, physical, physical and emotional, and poly-victimization. Associations between childhood maltreatment class and sexually violent behavior demonstrate a threshold effect, wherein poly-victimized men were significantly more likely than men in other classes to have engaged in sexually violent behavior during the 12-month follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: There is a vital need for screening and intervention with men who have experienced childhood maltreatment in Vietnam to prevent future violence perpetration. Education is needed to break the cycle of violence intergenerationally and in romantic relationships by changing harmful norms around men's sexual privilege and the normalization of childhood maltreatment.