Child maltreatment: Risk of adjustment problems and dating violence in adolescence

Objective: To examine the relationship between child maltreatment, clinical ly relevant adjustment problems, and dating violence in a community sample of adolescents. Method: Adolescents from 10 high schools (N= 1,419; respons e rate = 62%) in southwestern Ontario completed questionnaires that assesse d past maltreatment, current adjustment, and dating violence. Logistic regr ession was used to compare maltreated and nonmaltreated youths across outco me domains. Results: One third (n = 462) of the school sample reported leve ls of maltreatment above the cutoff score on the Childhood Trauma Questionn aire. Girls with a history of maltreatment had a higher risk of emotional d istress compared with girls without such histories (e.g., odds ratios [OR] for anger, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress-related problems w ere 7.1, 7.2, 9.3, and 9.8, respectively). They were also at greater risk o f violent and nonviolent delinquency (OR = 2.7) and carrying concealed weap ons (OR = 7.1). Boys with histories of maltreatment were 2.5 to 3.5 times a s likely to report clinical levels of depression, posttraumatic stress, and overt dissociation as were boys without a maltreatment history. They also had a significantly greater risk of using threatening behaviors (OR = 2.8) or physical abuse (OR = 3.4) against their dating partners. Conclusions: Ma ltreatment is a significant risk factor for adolescent maladjustment and sh ows a differential pattern for male and female adolescents.