Open AccessDevelopmental cascades from child maltreatment to negative friend and romantic interactions in emerging adulthood
Author(s) -
Elizabeth D. Handley,
Justin Russotti,
Fred A. Rogosch,
Dante Cicchetti
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
development and psychopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.761
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1469-2198
pISSN - 0954-5794
DOI - 10.1017/s095457941900124x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , aggression , poison control , early childhood , interpersonal relationship , injury prevention , interpersonal communication , suicide prevention , social psychology , medicine , environmental health
Maltreatment during childhood is associated with difficult interpersonal relationships throughout the life course. The aim of the current study was to investigate differential pathways from child maltreatment to emerging adult relationship dysfunction. Specifically, we prospectively tested whether child maltreatment initiates a developmental cascade resulting in coercive negative romantic and friend interactions in emerging adulthood via childhood antisocial tendencies and via childhood relational aggression. Utilizing a longitudinal sample of emerging adult participants (N = 392; mean age = 20 years old) who took part in a summer research camp program as children (mean age = 11 years old), results supported pathways via both childhood antisocial behavior and childhood relational aggression. We found specificity within these pathways such that childhood antisocial behavior was a mediator of child maltreatment effects on emerging adult negative romantic interactions, whereas childhood relational aggression was a mediator of child maltreatment effects on emerging adult negative friend interactions. Taken together, results indicate that children exposed to maltreatment face significant interpersonal challenges in emerging adulthood, within both the friend and the romantic domains, and point to distinct childhood pathways to these negative interactions. Our findings are consistent with Dishion's (2016) theoretical framework for understanding the development of coercion in relationships and highlight the criticality of early intervention with maltreating families.