Poster #65 - The Role of Coping Strategies in the Pathway between Child Maltreatment and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Child maltreatment has been repeatedly linked to negative mental and physical health outcomes (Maniglio, 2009). Despite interest in consequences of maltreatment, there has been little work on the mechanisms driving these consequences. One potential mechanism is the strategies children employ when faced with everyday environmental stressors. Children cope with difficult demands from their environments in a variety of ways, using avoidant (e.g., disengaging), aggressive (e.g., kicking) or healthy (e.g., seeking help from an adult) strategies. Previous work has shown that children’s avoidant and aggressive strategies are associated with poor adjustment (Compas et al., 2001), while healthy coping strategies are associated with healthy adjustment (Grant et al., 2003) and buffer the effects of stressful experiences (Compas et al., 2001). Therefore, it is important to understand the coping strategies of children who are at particular risk for poor mental health outcomes, such as maltreated children. Previous work examining coping strategies among maltreated individuals has been retrospective and focused on how these individuals cope with the stress of maltreatment, but not with stress more generally (Crittenden, 1992; Hager & Runtz, 2012), and has not linked these strategies to specific mental health outcomes. The current study addressed this gap by examining whether coping strategies for life stress mediated the relationship between child maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
Participants included 198 maltreated and 222 demographically-matched children, aged 5-12 years (M = 7.42, SD = 1.77; 59% male), who attended two consecutive years of a research summer camp designed for low-income children. The racial composition of the children was diverse (57.1% African American, 20.5% Caucasian, 5% Latino, and 17.5% other). Children’s maltreatment status was evaluated through CPS records coded with the Maltreatment Classification System (MCS; Barnett et al., 1993). Three dimensions of coping strategies (avoidant, healthy, aggressive) were assessed by camp counselors using the Coping Strategies Rating questionnaire (Smith et al., 2006). Counselors also completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991) to provide an index of internalizing and externalizing symptomology. Maltreatment status and coping strategy ratings were measured at Time 1 and symptomatology was assessed at Time 1 and Time 2.
Path analysis was used to estimate the pathways between child maltreatment, coping strategies, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors (see Figure 1). Model fit estimates (CFI > .95 and RMSEA < .06) indicated good fit for each model (Hu and Bentler, 1999). Estimates for all pathways are presented in Table 1. Maltreatment predicted increased aggressive and decreased healthy and avoidant coping strategies. Furthermore, Rmediation was used to test if aggressive coping mediated the relationship between maltreatment and externalizing behavior at Time 2. Results indicated that there was significant mediation, 95% CI [.41, 1.36].
Results indicate that aggressive coping strategies represent a mechanism by which maltreated children are at risk for externalizing behaviors. This has important implications for clinicians, who may teach coping strategies to individuals who have been maltreated. Community or school prevention programs could integrate healthy coping strategies into their curriculum for children who are at risk for maltreatment.

Authors

• Faith VanMeter, University of Minnesota
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth D. Handley, Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dante Cicchetti, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author