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Profiles of Childhood Maltreatment: Associations with Sexual Risk Behavior during Adolescence in a Sample of Racial/Ethnic Minority Girls
Author(s) -
Niu Li,
Brown Joshua,
Till Hoyt Lindsay,
Salandy Anthony,
NucciSack Anne,
Shankar Viswanathan,
Burk Robert D.,
Schlecht Nicolas F.,
Diaz Angela
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13498
Subject(s) - psychology , neglect , sexual abuse , child abuse , psychological abuse , ethnic group , physical abuse , poison control , developmental psychology , injury prevention , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , human factors and ergonomics , child neglect , victimology , psychiatry , medicine , medical emergency , sociology , anthropology
This study examines associations between childhood maltreatment and developmental trajectories of sexual risk behaviors (SRBs) in a sample of 882 sexually active adolescent girls, predominantly Hispanic or Black, assessed every 6 months between 13 and 23 years. Latent profile analyses revealed four distinct maltreatment profiles: Low Maltreatment (76%), Moderate Emotional Neglect Only (15%), Severe Physical/Emotional Abuse (3%), and Severe Sexual Abuse (6%). Multilevel growth analyses showed the Moderate Emotional Neglect Only and Severe Sexual Abuse profiles exhibited more SRBs starting in late adolescence, and the Severe Sexual Abuse profile also exhibited a faster increase than the Low Maltreatment profile. Understanding heterogeneity within maltreated populations may have important implications for healthy sexual development.