Psychopathology among youths who were victims of documented childhood maltreatment - abstract

There is an established relationship between childhood maltreatment and later psychopathology, but most studies have used self-reports and only consider a small number of experiences. The main aim of this study was to examine predictors of psychopathology by comparing two sources (official records vs. self-reports) of ten different childhood adversities among youths who were identified by Child Protective Services (CPS). We also used a comparison group that was not identified by CPS. This study also compared, in terms of psychopathology, three groups of respondents (under-report; agreement; and over-report) based on the discrepancy between the two sources of childhood adversity....

Despite the limitations of a self-report methodology, our findings attest to its contribution in predicting health outcomes. Professionals from CPS need to be thorough when assessing and documenting the multiple experiences that may co-occur in a household, paying particular attention when young girls are involved, as the experience of sexual abuse has been shown to be independently associated with later risk of developing depressive symptoms. This process may increase the appropriateness of the chosen interventions.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.12020/abstract

Pinto, R. J. and Maia, Â. C. (2013), Psychopathology among youths who were victims of documented childhood maltreatment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. doi: 10.1111/camh.12020