3-222 - The Consequences of Childhood Maltreatment on Physical and Mental Health During Late Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Childhood maltreatment (CM) represents a significant risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2001). The majority of research examining poor health outcomes in individuals who experience CM however, has focused almost exclusively on young children and adult populations. Late adolescence/emerging adulthood is an important developmental stage in which to understand health outcomes of CM victims, as health-related behaviors formed during this period often endure across the lifespan and, consequently, have implications for long-term well-being (Hill, White, Chung, Hawkins, Catalano, 2000). Typically defined as the ages of 18 - 25, this developmental stage is marked by frequent change and exploration, and posited be an ideal period in which to target interventions (Arnett 2005).
Drawing on a range of sample populations and incorporating multiple disciplinary perspectives, these papers examine the influence of CM on health outcomes in late adolescence/emerging adulthood. The first paper uses a person-centered approach to examine the nature and severity of multiple forms of CM on long-term emotional dysregulation, psychopathology, and revictimization. The second paper examines the psychobiological conditions (eg, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation) under which women with childhood sexual abuse histories may be at greater risk for obesity by tracking body mass across development. Using data from a nationally representative sample, the third paper examines prescription opioid use/misuse among young adults with maltreatment histories. Together, these papers contribute to the growing empirical knowledge of the sequela of CM and point to late adolescence/emerging adulthood as critical point of entry for interventions.

Sub Unit

• Health, Growth, Injury

Chair

• Bharathi Jayanthi Zvara, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Discussant

• Jennie G Noll, The Pennsylvania State University

Individual Presentations

• Latent classes of types and severity of childhood maltreatment: Relations to sexual revictimization and mental health - Presenting Author: Ruby Charak, Department of Psychological Science, The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas; David DiLillo, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska; Terri Messman-Moore, Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; Kim Gratz, Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio

• Childhood sexual abuse survivors and obesity in adolescence: effect of childhood hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation - Presenting Author: Jacinda C Li, Pennsylvania State University; Jennie G Noll, The Pennsylvania State University; Penelope K Trickett, University of Southern California; Frank Putnam, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Association between childhood maltreatment and prescription opioid use and misuse in a representative sample of young adults - Presenting Author: Meghan Shanahan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Anna Austin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Bharathi Jayanthi Zvara, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill