The Young Adolescent Project: A longitudinal study of the effects of maltreatment on adolescent development

Abstract

The Young Adolescent Project (YAP) is an ongoing longitudinal study investigating the effects of abuse and neglect on adolescent development. It is a multidisciplinary study guided by a developmental, ecological perspective, and designed to consider the physical, social, and psychological effects of childhood maltreatment through the transition from childhood to adolescence. Four waves of data collection have been completed, ranging from early (Mean age = 10.95) to late adolescence (Mean age = 18.24). Members of the maltreated group (n = 303) were selected from new cases that had been opened by the Department of Child and Family Services, whereas the comparison group (n = 151) were not involved with child welfare but lived in the same neighborhoods as the maltreated group. The study assessed a wide variety of domains including physical development (e.g., height, weight, body mass, pubertal development); physiological reactivity (e.g., cortisol); cognitive abilities; mental health (e.g., symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma, and aggression); risk behavior (e.g., sexual activity, delinquency, or substance use); social development (e.g., self-esteem, competence, and social support); family environment; and exposure to community violence. Overall, our findings demonstrated the pervasive and persistent adverse effects of child maltreatment both within and across domains, but they also identified maltreated youth with positive functioning. Our hope is that this work will help move us toward identifying targets for intervention to cultivate resilience and positive adaptation after early maltreatment experiences.

Characterizing competence among a high-risk sample of emerging adults: Prospective predictions and biological considerations

“…A limited number of studies have investigated multidimensional developmental competence in emerging adulthood with prospective samples of maltreated and nonmaltreated individuals (Allwood & Widom, 2013; DuMont, Widom, & Czaja, 2007; McGloin & Widom, 2001; Mersky & Topitzes, 2009; Negriff et al, 2019; Thornberry, Henry, Ireland, & Smith, 2010). 1 For instance, McGloin and Widom (2001) examined a large group of emerging adults (676 maltreated and 520 nonmaltreated, demographically similar comparison children) across eight domains of resilient functioning, defined as: successful employment, housing stability, high school graduation, social activity, absence of psychopathology, substance abuse, criminal offending, and violence perpetration.…”

The importance of friendships in reducing brain responses to stress in adolescents exposed to childhood adversity: a pre-registered systematic review

“…All identified studies were unable to provide neurobiological evidence for the stress buffering role of friendship support in adolescents with CA (Table 1) [38,41,42].…”

“…Negriff et al [42] found that 10-year-old adolescents with documented maltreatment experiences reported a smaller perceived friendship support network and showed blunted cortisol responses to social stress. At age 18, maltreated adolescents had more isolated online friendships (i.e., friends who were not connected to others in their online Facebook network), which predicted higher levels of exposure to online sexual content and offline highrisk sexual behavior [43].…”

“…This pre-registered, systematic review identified only three studies that could have examined whether friendship support buffers neurobiological stress responses in adolescents with CA. Two studies did not directly test this model [41,42] and one study found no support for friendship stress buffering in a small sample of well-functioning adolescents with CA [38]. Previous research (incl.…”

“…Previous research (incl. [42]) classified individuals with CA exposure as more sensitive and likely experience interpersonal stress due to compromised social-emotional functioning [3,18,22,41]. Through this mechanism, it is suggested that friendship support may also be less available to young people with CA.…”