The impact of subtype, frequency, chronicity, and severity of child maltreatment on social competence and behavior problems

Abstract

This investigation examined the impact of dimensions within maltreatment such as the severity, frequency, chronicity, and subtypes of maltreatment and their relationship with child outcome. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 who participated in a summer camp program were assessed on their social competence, behavior problems, and peers ratings of cooperation, disruption, and initiation of aggression. The 235 participants were all from low-socioeconomic status families; 145 children were from families with documented histories of child maltreatment, whereas 90 of the children had no record of maltreatment. The study found that severity of the maltreatment, the frequency of Child Protective Services reports, and the interaction between severity and frequency were significant predictors of children's functioning. Additionally, the chronicity of the maltreatment in the family significantly predicted peer ratings of aggression. Subtype differences emerged as well, with children in the sexual abuse group being more socially competent than other maltreated children, and children in the physical abuse group having more behavior problems than nonmaltreated children. Regression analyses with cooccurrence of multiple subtypes of maltreatment indicated that physical neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse made significant unique contributions in predicting child outcomes. The advantages of exploring multiple dimensions within maltreatment, the necessity of developing better operational definitions of these dimensions, and social policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Child maltreatment, attention networks, and potential precursors to borderline personality disorder

“…Among the remaining maltreated children, 79.0% had experienced neglect, 61.1% had experienced emotional maltreatment, 26.5% had experienced physical abuse, and 6.2% had experienced sexual abuse. As is typical in maltreated populations (Bolger, Patterson, & Kupersmidt, 1998;Manly, Cicchetti, & Barnett, 1994;Manly, Kim, Rogosch, & Cicchetti, 2001), the majority of children had experienced multiple subtypes of maltreatment. Specifically, 56.8% of the maltreated children had experienced two or more maltreatment subtypes, and 11 of the 15 possible combinations of presence/absence for the four maltreatment subtypes were observed in the sample.…”

The influence of childhood maltreatment on adolescents’ academic performance

“…Emotional and behavioral problems may also result in cognitive impairments-greater concentration difficulties (Carlson & Kashani, 1988;Manly, Cicchetti, & Barnett, 1994); poorer motivation (Carlson & Kashani, 1988;Shonk & Cicchetti, 2001); impaired short-term memory (Lauer, Giordani, Boivin, Halle, Glasgow, Alessi, & Berent, 1994); or higher impulsivity and impaired executive function (Manly et al, 1994)that result in reduced ability to perform well on school assignments and tests.…”

Rereporting of child maltreatment: Does participation in other public sector services moderate the likelihood of a second maltreatment report?

“…The association of ongoing maltreatment with a range of negative outcomes for children (Jonson-Reid & Barth, 2000;Manly, Cicchetti, & Barnett, 1994) highlights the importance of this area of research. If agencies can better understand the individual, family, service, and community characteristics that are associated with recurrence, this will improve their ability to target services for first-time child welfare clients.…”