Individual and environmental correlates of childhood maltreatment and exposure to community violence: Utilizing a latent profile and a multilevel meta-analytic approach

Abstract

Background Childhood maltreatment (CM) and exposure to community violence (ETV) are correlated with physical/mental health and psychosocial problems. Typically, CM and ETV are examined separately, by subtypes within category, or collapsed across both into one category of adversity. Consequently, research is limited in identifying subgroups of individuals with different amounts of exposure to both CM and ETV. Accordingly, we lack sufficient understanding of the extent to which problems associated with CM and ETV vary based on the amount (i.e. dose) of exposure to both of these experiences. Methods We used 20 samples (28,300 individuals) to estimate person-centered profiles of CM and ETV occurrence and co-occurrence within each sample. An individual data multilevel meta-analytic framework was used to determine the average effect size across samples for different profiles and conditional probability correlations within sociodemographic, neighborhood, health, mental health, and psychosocial domains. Results The profile characterized by high levels of CM and high levels of ETV correlated with stressful life events, depression and anxiety symptoms, and general indicators of externalizing behaviors. CM predominant profiles were associated with mental health diagnoses and treatment. ETV predominant profiles associated with risk-taking/violent behavior and neighborhood-level disadvantage. However, nuance based on the dose of CM or ETV was evident. Conclusions It is important to identify subgroups based on the amount of exposure to CM and ETV. These subgroups have differential relationships with correlates across domains. Greater delineation and description of the lived experience will allow for more precision in addressing the burden of childhood adversity.

Trajectories of parental harshness and exposure to community violence differentially predict externalizing and internalizing mental health problems in legal system-involved youth

“…For example, in terms of antisocial behavior, we found that only membership in one trajectory, Moderate PH/High ETV, predicted higher nonviolent crime three years later relative to the Low reference group. As hypothesized, our findings are consistent with previous studies documenting that moderate amounts of family stress in the context of high ETV is an especially potent combination for promoting nonviolent crime (Estrada et al, 2021). Nonviolent crime, which consists of behaviors including theft, selling drugs, and destroying property, can be motivated by a host of factors including one's ability to regulate behavior or a desire to gain resources (Gardner et al, 2008).…”

“…Further, the present study contributes to evidence suggesting that nuance in the relationships between combinations of stressful life experiences and mental health emerges when the relative amount of each stressful life experience is considered. Though some studies suggest that there is a dose-response relationship between the experience of multiple stressful life events and negative mental health outcomes (e.g., Chapman et al, 2004), results from the present study indicate that subgroups characterized by high levels of exposure to one stressful life event, in the context of moderate exposure to another, often show the strongest relationships to severe mental health outcomes (Estrada et al, 2021). Our results underscore the importance of understanding the subtype(s) and amount of exposure to multiple stressful life experiences when characterizing the relationships among life stressors and mental health outcomes.…”

“…For all analyses, we examined the robustness of any relationships by considering additional factors (i.e., demographics, broader environmental factors, individual difference factors) that also relate to PH, ETV, and/or mental health. Based on prior work (Cecil et al, 2014;Estrada et al, 2021;Stevens & Mennen, 2018), we hypothesized that trajectories characterized by low levels of both subtypes, high levels of one subtype, and high levels of both subtypes would emerge. We further hypothesized that trajectories primarily characterized by higher levels of PH relative to ETV would predict greater dysfunction in internalizing outcomes; trajectories primarily characterized by higher levels of ETV relative to PH would predict more antisocial behavior; and trajectories characterized by high levels of one or both subtypes would promote dysfunction across outcomes.…”

The Future of Psychotherapy for Youth

“…CM has also been shown to increase lifetime psychopathology as evidenced by neural responses to threatening faces and LPP signaling (Sandre et al, 2018). Interestingly, CM is also more strongly associated with the development of later internalizing and externalizing symptoms, whereas ETV is more associated with externalizing symptoms only (Estrada et al, 2021, Aksoy et al, 2022. Currently, we know that children and adolescents typically show more symptoms of anxiety and anger, less verbalization of hopelessness, and less negative symptoms in comparison to adults' populations who have depression (Luyten & Fonagy, 2018).…”

Development and validation of the Dimensional Inventory of Stress and Trauma Across the Lifespan (DISTAL): A novel assessment tool to facilitate the dimensional study of psychobiological sequelae of exposure to adversity

“…Although relatively less is known about the impact of specific types of adversity on neurobiological outcomes, extensive prior research has compared behavioral and clinical outcomes associated with different types of adversity (e.g., sexual abuse vs. physical abuse) to test whether specific exposures may be associated with differential outcomes (e.g., Cicchetti & Toth, 1995; Estrada et al., 2021; Gomez et al., 2017; Khan et al., 2015; McCoy, 2013). Relatedly, as previously described, an emerging line of research suggests that exposures characterized by threat versus deprivation may have differential effects on neurobiological (e.g., Colich et al., 2020) and clinical outcomes (e.g., Miller et al., 2018).…”