Comparing mental health disorders among sex trafficked children and three groups of youth at high-risk for trafficking: A dual retrospective cohort and scoping review.

Background: Individuals at high-risk for trafficking are often subject to preexisting complex trauma that only intensifies during the trafficking experience. This greatly increases their risk of mental illness, although the actual prevalence of mental health disorders in children who are sex trafficked remains unclear.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of mental health diagnoses among a sample of youth identified as being sex trafficked, and to discuss these rates in relation to other high-risk groups reported in the literature.