(PS4-C52) Childhood Maltreatment and the Development of Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms: Community Support and Service Utilization as Protective Factors

Research has demonstrated numerous differential pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent mental health difficulties (e.g., Mills et al., 2013; Muniz et al., 2019). Childhood maltreatment predicts greater levels of internalizing symptoms in adolescence as well as increases in internalizing symptoms over time (Heleniak et al., 2016). Yet, there is considerable heterogeneity in patterns of internalizing symptom trajectories among youth who have experienced maltreatment, and it is not fully understood what may influence resilient trajectories (e.g., Yoon, 2017). Consistent with a socio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), it is important to consider the development of youth mental health difficulties within the context of multiple systems. Community-level factors such as community support and collective efficacy may be protective factors after maltreatment (Meng et al., 2018). Additionally, while evidence-based services tend to result in symptom improvement (e.g., Bennett et al., 2020), barriers to care are substantial, and children who experienced maltreatment may improve at lower rates than non-maltreated children in community-based services (Stewart et al., 2023). Therefore, understanding the role of community- and system-level factors in the promotion of resilient outcomes after maltreatment can help inform clinical, research, and policy needs. 

This study utilized data from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) made available by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Building on the work of other LONGSCAN studies (e.g., Lauterbach & Armour, 2016), the aim of the current study is to examine the roles of mental health service utilization and community collective efficacy measured longitudinally in the pathway from childhood maltreatment prior to age 12 to adolescent internalizing symptoms as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Participants (N = 873) were 50.2% female and identified as 50.6% Black/African American, 23.0% white, 22.3% multiracial, 5.6% Hispanic or Latine, 0.2% Native American/Indigenous, 0.1% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 0.3% identified with an option not provided. Preliminary analyses demonstrate significant associations between maltreatment and internalizing symptoms as well as between engagement in mental health services and internalizing symptoms as expected. Bivariate analyses also show that increased collective efficacy is significantly associated with decreased internalizing symptoms, providing support for further examining the role of community in symptom development in adolescence. Multilevel Modeling (MLM) techniques will be utilized to further elucidate the relative roles of childhood maltreatment, collective efficacy, and mental health service utilization in the development of adolescent internalizing symptoms. MLM will allow for examination of both within-cluster and between-cluster variability which is important given the longitudinal nature of this study. Further understanding of these community- and system-level factors can inform clinical and community-based work in promoting resilience among youth who experience maltreatment, and additional policy implications will be discussed.