Maltreatment as a potent social–ecological predictor of externalizing behavior trajectories across adolescence

• In Event: 3-191 - Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Developmental Trajectories from Childhood Maltreatment to Adverse Adolescent Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Extant research consistently links youth externalizing problems and later maladaptive outcomes, and these behaviors are particularly detrimental given their relative stability across development (Schaeffer & Borduin, 2005). Maltreatment from caregivers is a consistent and robust risk factor for later aggression (van der Put, Lanctoˆt, De Ruiter, & Van Vugt, 2015) and socioemotional difficulties (Widom, 2014). Early maltreatment, in particular, is found to predict children’s externalizing behavior over time (Font & Berger, 2015). Although an array of risk and protective factors for externalizing problems have been identified, few studies have examined factors reflecting the multiple social–ecological levels that influence child development and used them to predict longitudinal trajectories of externalizing problems. The current study examined externalizing behavior trajectories in a sample of 1,094 at-risk youth (539 boys, 555 girls) from the Longitudinal Studies in Child Abuse and Neglect multisite longitudinal study of child maltreatment. All children were either at risk for or reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) for maltreatment (78.1% of children had one or more CPS reports for maltreatment; 51.7% of children had substantiated cases of maltreatment). Normed Child Behavior Checklist externalizing scores were used to estimate group trajectories via growth-based trajectory modeling at ages 10, 12, 14, and 16 using the SAS PROC TRAJ procedure. Model fit was assessed using the Bayes information criterion and the Akaike information criterion statistics. Analyses revealed optimal fit for five distinct behavioral trajectories: low stable, mid-increasing, mid-decreasing, medium high, and high stable. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that a combination of risk and protective factors at individual, family, school, and neighborhood levels contribute to distinct trajectories of externalizing problems over time. Of note, children with maltreatment experiences were 2.78 times more likely to be in the high stable externalizing behavior trajectory than the low stable group; maltreatment was the most potent predictor of chronically high externalizing problems in adolescence assessed in the current study. Additionally, socialization skills at the individual level and father involvement at the family level were predictive of stable, low externalizing behaviors in adolescence, suggesting certain protective factors may be able to buffer the risk posed by maltreatment. Predictors of low and decreasing trajectories can inform interventions aimed at addressing externalizing problems among high-risk adolescents.

Authors

• Caleb Figge, DePaul University
  Presenting Author

• Cecilia Martinez-Torteya, Universidad de Monterrey
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Weeks, University of Utah
  Non-Presenting Author