Maltreatment experiences are complex, and it is difficult to characterize the heterogeneity in types of maltreatment. Subtypes, such as emotional maltreatment, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect commonly co-occur and may persist across development. Therefore, treating individual maltreatment subtypes as independently occurring is not representative of the nature of maltreatment as it occurs in children's lives. Latent class analysis (LCA) is employed herein to identify subgroups of maltreated children based on commonalities in maltreatment subtype and chronicity. In a sample of 674 low-income urban children, 51.6% of whom experienced officially documented maltreatment, our analyses identified four classes of children, with three distinct classes based on maltreatment subtypes and chronicity, and one group of children who did not experience maltreatment. The largest class of maltreated children identified was the chronic, multi-subtype maltreatment class (57% of maltreated children); a second class was characterized by only neglect in a single developmental period (31% of maltreated children), and the smallest class was characterized by a single subtype of maltreatment (emotional maltreatment, physical, or sexual abuse) occurring in a single developmental period (12% of maltreated children). Characterization of these groups confirms the overlapping nature of maltreatment subtypes. There were notable differences between latent classes on child behavioral and socio-emotional outcomes measured by child self-report and camp counselors report during a one-week summer camp. The largest differences were between the non-maltreated class and the chronic maltreatment class. Children who experienced chronic, multi-subtype maltreatment showed higher levels of externalizing behavior, emotion dysregulation, depression, and anxiety.

Children who experience maltreatment are at well-documented risk for the development of problematic substance use and disorder in adolescence and beyond. This review applies a developmental psychopathology framework to discuss the complex multilevel probabilistic pathways from child maltreatment to substance use and substance use disorder (SUD). We begin with an overview of the myriad vulnerabilities associated with child maltreatment, including the development of substance use and SUD. Prominent pathways that may potentiate liability for SUD are discussed. Specifically, we highlight the robust empirical support for the prominent externalizing pathway of risk, and also discuss the state of the research regarding the internalizing pathway. Consistent with the developmental psychopathology perspective, we then review biological processes such as neuroendrocrine mechanisms, allostatic load, and neurobiological pathways that may underlie child maltreatment risk, as well as discuss broader contextual issues. Elucidating the processes underlying the development of substance use and disorder among children exposed to this form of early adversity is paramount for not only informing developmental theories, but also designing effective prevention and intervention programs. Thus, implications for preventive interventions are provided. Finally, critical next steps for research within the area of child maltreatment and the developmental psychopathology of substance use and SUD are proffered.

Using a high-risk community sample (N = 405), the current study examined developmental cascades among substance use, affiliation with substance use promoting peers, and academic achievement over an 18-year period and tested whether these pathways mediated the influence of parental alcoholism on adult alcohol and drug use disorders. Results showed that the influence of parental alcoholism on adult drug disorders was mediated by developmental cascades across all three domains, whereas the influence of parental alcoholism on adult alcohol disorders was mediated through affiliation with substance use promoting peers and persistence in binge drinking. Adolescent drug use had more implications for adult outcomes than did adolescent alcohol use, which was less likely to spill over into other domains of functioning. Findings indicated that adolescent risk factors had indirect rather than unique effects on adult substance use disorders, suggesting that adolescent risk is not immutable and is largely mediated by later influences.Multiple streams of evidence suggest that substance use disorders (SUDs) are best conceptualized as developmental disorders. First, there are well-documented, age-related patterns indicating substance use onset during adolescence, peaks in use and onset of SUDs in emerging adulthood (ages 18-25), and later declines or "maturing out" (Masten, Faden, Zucker, & Spear, 2008;Sher & Gotham, 1999). Second, there is clear evidence of childhood and adolescent antecedents to adult SUDs (Zucker, Donovan, Masten, Mattson, & Moss, 2008). Third, developmental role transitions and their relative timing, including completion of higher education, occupational attainment, marriage, and parenthood, are linked with substance use and SUDs Schulenberg & Maggs, 2002;Sher & Gotham, 1999). Developmentally salient patterns of consumption, context, and risk and protective mechanisms present clear evidence that SUDs are best examined with a developmental lens.According to a dynamic cascade conceptualization (Masten et al., 2005;Obradović, Burt, & Masten, 2010;Sameroff, 2000), processes associated with different domains of development may influence each other both concurrently and longitudinally. In this way, early influences may be important because they predict later, more proximal factors, which in turn affect late adolescent or adult outcomes (e.g., Dodge et al., 2009;Martel et al., 2009). These influences may cascade across multiple domains of functioning or amplify one another over time to influence adult outcomes (Schulenberg & Maslowsky, 2009 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe current study focused on three domains of adolescent development that might contribute to the development of adult SUDs; namely, adolescent substance use, affiliation with substance use promoting peers, and poor academic achievement. These domains may increase SUD risk by amplifying one another over time either through bidirectional relations between pairs of domains, or through broader cascadin...

ABSTRACT. Objective:The primary aim of the current study was to examine three dimensions of alcohol-specifi c parenting (anti-alcohol parenting strategies, parental legitimacy in regulating adolescent drinking, and parental disclosure of negative alcohol experiences) as mechanisms in the prospective relations between parental drinking and alcohol use disorder (recovered, current, and never diagnosed) and adolescent alcohol use initiation. Method: Participants were from an ongoing longitudinal study of the intergenerational transmission of alcoholism. Structural equation modeling was used to test a maternal model (n = 268 adolescents and their mothers) and a paternal model (n = 204 adolescents and their fathers) of alcohol-specifi c parenting. Results: Results indicated that higher levels of drinking among mothers and current alcohol use disorder among fathers were related to more frequent parental disclosure of personal negative experiences with alcohol. Maternal disclosure of negative alcohol experiences mediated the effect of maternal drinking on adolescent onset of alcohol use such that more disclosure predicted a greater likelihood of adolescent drinking initiation at follow-up over and above general parenting. In addition, currently alcoholic mothers were perceived as having less legitimate authority to regulate adolescent drinking, and low levels of legitimacy among fathers was predictive of drinking onset among adolescents. Conclusions: Alcohol-specifi c parenting is a distinct and infl uential predictor of adolescent alcohol use initiation that is partially shaped by parents' own drinking experiences. Moreover, parental conversations about their own personal experiences with alcohol may not represent a form of parent-child communication about drinking that deters adolescent drinking. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 74, 684-693, 2013)

The present study examined the effect of various dimensions of child maltreatment (i.e., developmental timing of maltreatment, number of maltreatment subtypes, and chronicity of maltreatment) on methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene, NR3C1, and investigated the associations between NR3C1 methylation and child outcomes. Participants included 534 children who attended a research summer camp program for school-aged maltreated (53.4%) and nonmaltreated (46.6%) children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Results show that children with early-onset maltreatment evidence significant hypermethylation compared to nonmaltreated children. Moreover, more maltreatment subtypes experienced and more chronic maltreatment are both related to greater NR3C1 hypermethylation. Findings also indicate that hypermethylation of NR3C1 is linked with a number of negative child outcomes including greater emotional lability-negativity, higher levels of ego undercontrol, more externalizing behavior, and greater depressive symptoms. Together, results highlight the role of methylation of NR3C1 in the effects of child maltreatment on the development of emotion dysregulation and psychopathology.