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Background and objectives: This study aimed to investigate the involvement that maltreatment type, specifically threat and deprivation, play in a child’s life. We examine how threat uniquely contributes to resilience and how deprivation impacts resilience. Literature has highlighted differences in the effects of deprivation and threat in recent research that shows the impact on various neurological systems.

Methods and approach: Participants included youth aged 11-17 years in the Department of Family Services (DFS) custody following removal from their home after substantiated child maltreatment and were assessed. 90 of the youth in the sample reported that they have experienced threat-based maltreatment, and 62 reported that they had experienced deprivation based maltreatment. Maltreatment history was gathered using the DSM-5 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (PTSD-RI)4. Interpersonal functioning was measured using the Sense of Relatedness subscale of the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA)5.

Results: In the sample of maltreated youth, those who had experienced neglect compared to those who had not experienced neglect demonstrated no differences across variables of the resiliency scales. This suggests that despite differences in neurological effects, among multiple scales of the RSCA assessment, nothing significant was found in the maltreatment type of neglect, however, significance was found among maltreated youth. For youth with a history of abuse, there are lower relatedness scores compared to youth without a history of abuse but had experienced some form of maltreatment. This suggests that threat-based maltreatment has a greater impact on relatedness factors than deprivation-based maltreatment.

Conclusion & broader implications: Deprivation-based maltreatment has an impact on relatedness factors that goes above and beyond the effects observed in maltreated youth as a whole whereas threat-based maltreatment has a direct impact on resiliency scales as a whole. The neurological effects of maltreatment have been found to mediate the relationship between maltreatment and resilience factors. However, limited research has investigated the unique impacts of threat and deprivation based treatment on resilience. Understanding these differences is crucial for tailoring interventions and support services to address the unique needs of children who have experienced different forms of adversity.

Publisher Location

Las Vegas (Nev.)

Publication Date

Spring 4-26-2024

Publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Keywords

Maltreatment; Resilience

Disciplines

Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychological Phenomena and Processes | Psychology

File Format

PDF

File Size

1020 KB

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Maltreatment and Resilience: Examining the Unique Roles of Threat and Deprivation


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