Time-Dependent Protective Effects of Elementary School Connectedness on Mental Well-Being in Adults Who Experienced Maltreatment

• In Event: Risk and Protective Factors for Student Mental Health

Abstract

This study examined whether school connectedness (SC), a putative protective factor, moderated the linear relationship between intrafamilial maltreatment in childhood and psychological well-being in early adulthood when SC occurred in elementary school. Using data from 348 young adults, SC and maltreatment were calculated for lifetime as well as elementary, middle, and high school to evaluate the buffering, inoculation, and rescue qualities of SC. Maltreatment was measured via the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure Scale (MACE, psychological well-being via the symptom questionnaire (SQ). The results indicate particularly powerful effects of elementary SC on later psychological well-being. Efforts to improve SC throughout childhood, particularly targeting youth at high risk of maltreatment at home, could therefore yield improvements in later adult outcomes.

Author

• Krista L. Goldstine-Cole, University of Montana