Role of Trauma Symptoms in the Development of Behavioral Problems in Maltreated Preschoolers

• NCJ Number: 230784
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2010 Pages: 225-234
• Author(s): Tristan Milot; Louise S. Ethier; Diane St-Laurent; Marc A. Provost
• Date Published: April 2010
• Length: 10 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the mediating role of trauma symptoms in the relation between child maltreatment and behavioral problems.

Abstract

Empirical evidence indicates that maltreated children are at risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder. Child maltreatment is viewed as a major life stressor and a potentially traumatic situation that may strongly impair child development and functioning. Meditational analyses revealed that trauma symptoms fully mediated the association between maltreatment and both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Results confirmed links between maltreatment and teacher reports of child internalizing and externalizing problems. Results also revealed a significant association between child maltreatment and trauma symptomatology with maltreated children perceived by their preschool teacher as displaying more trauma symptoms than non-maltreated children. This finding lends further support to the suggestion to consider child maltreatment from a developmental trauma perspective. Meditational procedure was conducted using structural equation modeling. Data were collected 34 maltreated and 64 non-maltreated children from economically disadvantaged families. Tables, figure, and references