TY - JOUR
T1 - Child maltreatment and adolescent externalizing behavior
T2 - Examining the indirect and cross-lagged pathways of prosocial peer activities
AU - Allen, Elizabeth K.
AU - Desir, Michelle P.
AU - Shenk, Chad E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The data used in this publication were made available by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and have been used with permission. Data from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) Assessments 0-12 were originally collected by Desmond K. Runyan, Howard Dubowitz, Diana J. English, Jonathan Kotch, Alan Litrownik, Richard Thompson and Terri Lewis & The LONGSCAN Investigator Group. Funding for the project was provided by the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN), Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Dept. of Health and Human Services (The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN), under the Office of Human Services funded this consortium of studies during the early years of data collection from 04/01/1991 until NCCAN became part of OCAN in 1998.) The collector of the original data, the funder, NDACAN, Cornell University and their agents or employees bear no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Background: There is a well-established relation between child maltreatment and externalizing behaviors in adolescence. A gap in this scientific literature is the identification of pathways, particularly protective pathways, explaining this relation prior to the transition to adulthood. Objective: This study examined the indirect and cross-lagged pathways of peer engagement in prosocial activities to explain the relation between child maltreatment and adolescent externalizing behaviors. Participants and settings: Children and their caregivers (N = 1354) participated in a multi-site, multi-wave, prospective cohort study of child maltreatment in the U.S. Methods: Child maltreatment, peer engagement in prosocial activities, and externalizing behaviors were assessed at ages twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. A cross-lagged path model evaluated whether peer engagement in prosocial activities was an indirect pathway of the relation between prior child maltreatment and subsequent externalizing behaviors. Cross-lagged relations were examined to determine directionality of risk among these variables during adolescence. Results: The path model did not support peer engagement in prosocial activities as an indirect or cross-lagged pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence. Instead, prior child maltreatment had a direct relation with greater externalizing behaviors, which had indirect and cross-lagged effects with less peer engagement in prosocial activities at multiple points later in adolescence. Conclusions: The degree of peer engagement in prosocial activities may not be a risk or protective pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence for those exposed to child maltreatment. In fact, externalizing behaviors appear to limit subsequent engagement with peers in prosocial activities, providing an opportunity for future research and intervention.
AB - Background: There is a well-established relation between child maltreatment and externalizing behaviors in adolescence. A gap in this scientific literature is the identification of pathways, particularly protective pathways, explaining this relation prior to the transition to adulthood. Objective: This study examined the indirect and cross-lagged pathways of peer engagement in prosocial activities to explain the relation between child maltreatment and adolescent externalizing behaviors. Participants and settings: Children and their caregivers (N = 1354) participated in a multi-site, multi-wave, prospective cohort study of child maltreatment in the U.S. Methods: Child maltreatment, peer engagement in prosocial activities, and externalizing behaviors were assessed at ages twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. A cross-lagged path model evaluated whether peer engagement in prosocial activities was an indirect pathway of the relation between prior child maltreatment and subsequent externalizing behaviors. Cross-lagged relations were examined to determine directionality of risk among these variables during adolescence. Results: The path model did not support peer engagement in prosocial activities as an indirect or cross-lagged pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence. Instead, prior child maltreatment had a direct relation with greater externalizing behaviors, which had indirect and cross-lagged effects with less peer engagement in prosocial activities at multiple points later in adolescence. Conclusions: The degree of peer engagement in prosocial activities may not be a risk or protective pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence for those exposed to child maltreatment. In fact, externalizing behaviors appear to limit subsequent engagement with peers in prosocial activities, providing an opportunity for future research and intervention.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104796
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104796
M3 - Article
C2 - 33189371
AN - SCOPUS:85096002098
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 111
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
M1 - 104796
ER -