Child maltreatment leads to deleterious effects in virtually every developmental domain, including cognitive, psychological, and behavioral functioning. Although difficulties with coping have been identified as contributing to these effects, less attention has been paid to the precise nature of maltreated children's coping difficulties, particularly in terms of the strategies they use to cope with negative emotions and how these strategies vary with age. We asked maltreated (n = 195) and comparison (n = 103) 10 to 17 year olds to describe emotional experiences and what strategies they used to cope with those emotions. Maltreated adolescents reported using more disengagement and antisocial strategies than did comparison adolescents. Differences between maltreated and comparison adolescents were consistent across age. Results have important implications for treatment and intervention efforts designed to improve coping strategies among vulnerable maltreated populations.

Criminal and juvenile court cases are often resolved through plea bargaining. Although the courts have decreed that plea decisions must be made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, little is known about legal professionals' broader perceptions of defendants' engagement in the plea process; in other words, professionals' views of whether defendants understand, attend to, and participate in the plea process. Perceptions of juvenile defendants are of particular interest, given that they are especially vulnerable to poor understanding and often participate minimally in their legal cases. The current research surveyed legal professionals about their perceptions of juvenile defendants' engagement in the plea process and examined whether perceptions differed by legal roles (prosecutor, defense attorney, or judge). We defined engagement as juveniles' legal understanding of and participation in the plea process. Overall, professionals viewed juvenile defendants as moderately engaged, although defense attorneys viewed juveniles as significantly less engaged than did judges and prosecutors. Given that research suggests juveniles are indeed less engaged than are their adult counterparts, improved methods of enhancing engagement in the plea process are needed. What is the significance of this article for the general public?As defined here, engagement broadly refers to defendants' understanding of and participation in the plea process. Our study suggests that legal professionalsparticularly judges and prosecutors-do not always recognize the deficits in juvenile defendants' level of engagement. We suggest that training legal professionals regarding juveniles' knowledge and comprehension of the legal system, and encouraging juveniles' participation in proceedings, could be a valuable method to increase juveniles' engagement.