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The Role of Youth Problem Behaviors in the Path From Child Abuse and Neglect to Prostitution: A Prospective Examination
Author(s) -
Wilson Helen W.,
Widom Cathy Spatz
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00624.x
Subject(s) - neglect , psychology , child abuse , developmental psychology , path (computing) , childhood abuse , path analysis (statistics) , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , statistics , mathematics , computer science , programming language
Behaviors beginning in childhood or adolescence may mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and involvement in prostitution. This paper examines 5 potential mediators: early sexual initiation, running away, juvenile crime, school problems, and early drug use. Using a prospective cohort design, abused and neglected children (ages 0–11) with cases processed during 1967–1971 were matched with nonabused, nonneglected children and followed into young adulthood. Data are from in‐person interviews at approximately age 29 and arrest records through 1994. Structural equation modeling tested path models. Results indicated that victims of child abuse and neglect were at increased risk for all problem behaviors except drug use. In the full model, only early sexual initiation remained significant as a mediator in the pathway from child abuse and neglect to prostitution. Findings were generally consistent for physical and sexual abuse and neglect. These findings suggest that interventions to reduce problem behaviors among maltreated children may also reduce their risk for prostitution later in life.