Child Behavior Problems and Maltreatment Exposure.

OBJECTIVES: Establish the longitudinal cross-lagged associations between maltreatment exposure and child behavior problems to promote screening and the type and timing of interventions needed. METHODS: The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a multiwave prospective cohort study of maltreatment exposure, enrolled children and caregivers (N = 1354) at approximately age 4 and followed them throughout childhood and adolescence. Families completed 7 waves of data collection with each wave occurring 2 years apart. Maltreatment was confirmed using official case records obtained from Child Protective Services. Six-month frequencies of behavior problems were assessed via caregiver-report. Two random-intercept, cross-lagged panel models tested the directional relations between maltreatment exposure and externalizing and internalizing behaviors. RESULTS: Maltreatment exposure predicted increases in externalizing behaviors at ages 8 (b = 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.14-1.98), 12 (b = 1.09; 95% CI 0.08-2.09), and 16 (b = 1.67; 95% CI 0.30-3.05) as well as internalizing behaviors at ages 6 (b = 0.66; 95% CI 0.03-1.29), 12 (b = 1.25; 95% CI 0.33-2.17), and 14 (b = 1.92; 95% CI 0.76-2.91). Increases in externalizing behaviors predicted maltreatment exposure at age 12 (odds ratio 1.02; 95% CI 1.00-1.05). CONCLUSIONS: Maltreatment exposure is robustly associated with subsequent child behavior problems, strengthening inferences about the directionality of these relations. Early screening of externalizing behaviors in pediatric settings can identify children likely to benefit from intervention to reduce such behaviors as well as prevent maltreatment exposure at entry to adolescence.

Contamination bias in the estimation of child maltreatment causal effects on adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.

BACKGROUND: When unaddressed, contamination in child maltreatment research, in which some proportion of children recruited for a nonmaltreated comparison group are exposed to maltreatment, downwardly biases the significance and magnitude of effect size estimates. This study extends previous contamination research by investigating how a dual-measurement strategy of detecting and controlling contamination impacts causal effect size estimates of child behavior problems. METHODS: This study included 634 children from the LONGSCAN study with 63 cases of confirmed child maltreatment after age 8 and 571 cases without confirmed child maltreatment. Confirmed child maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were recorded every 2 years between ages 4 and 16. Contamination in the nonmaltreated comparison group was identified and controlled by either a prospective self-report assessment at ages 12, 14, and 16 or by a one-time retrospective self-report assessment at age 18. Synthetic control methods were used to establish causal effects and quantify the impact of contamination when it was not controlled, when it was controlled for by prospective self-reports, and when it was controlled for by retrospective self-reports. RESULTS: Rates of contamination ranged from 62% to 67%. Without controlling for contamination, causal effect size estimates for internalizing behaviors were not statistically significant. Causal effects only became statistically significant after controlling contamination identified from either prospective or retrospective reports and effect sizes increased by between 17% and 54%. Controlling contamination had a smaller impact on effect size increases for externalizing behaviors but did produce a statistically significant overall effect, relative to the model ignoring contamination, when prospective methods were used. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of contamination in a nonmaltreated comparison group can underestimate the magnitude and statistical significance of causal effect size estimates, especially when investigating internalizing behavior problems. Addressing contamination can facilitate the replication of results across studies.

Contamination in Observational Research on Child Maltreatment: A Conceptual and Empirical Review With Implications for Future Research.

Contamination is a methodological phenomenon occurring in child maltreatment research when individuals in an established comparison condition have, in reality, been exposed to maltreatment during childhood. The current paper: (1) provides a conceptual and methodological introduction to contamination in child maltreatment research, (2) reviews the empirical literature demonstrating that the presence of contamination biases causal estimates in both prospective and retrospective cohort studies of child maltreatment effects, (3) outlines a dual measurement strategy for how child maltreatment researchers can address contamination, and (4) describes modern statistical methods for generating causal estimates in child maltreatment research after contamination is controlled. Our goal is to introduce the issue of contamination to researchers examining the effects of child maltreatment in an effort to improve the precision and replication of causal estimates that ultimately inform scientific and clinical decision-making as well as public policy.

The association of epigenetic age acceleration and depressive and anxiety symptom severity among children recently exposed to substantiated maltreatment.

Child maltreatment is a major risk factor for both depressive and anxiety disorders. However, many children exposed to maltreatment never meet diagnostic threshold for either disorder while experiencing only transitory symptoms post-exposure. Recent research suggests DNA methylation adds predictive value in explaining variation in the onset and course of multiple psychiatric disorders following exposure to child maltreatment. Epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), the biological aging of cells not attributable to chronological aging, is a stress-sensitive biomarker capturing genome-wide variation in DNA methylation with the potential to identify children who have been maltreated at greatest risk for depressive and anxiety disorders. The current study examined two EAA clocks appropriate for the pediatric population, the Horvath and Pediatric Buccal Epigenetic (PedBE) clocks, and their associations with depressive and anxiety symptom severity following child maltreatment. Children (N = 71) 8-15 years of age, all of whom were exposed to substantiated child maltreatment in the 12 months prior to study entry, were enrolled. Risk modeling adjusting for several confounders revealed that EAA estimated via the Horvath clock was significantly associated with more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms. The PedBE clock was not associated with either depressive or anxiety symptom severity. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that EAA via the Horvath clock robustly predicted depressive and anxiety symptom severity across multiple modeling scenarios. Our findings advance existing research suggesting EAA, as estimated with the Horvath clock, may be a promising biomarker for identifying children at greatest risk for more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms following maltreatment.

Child maltreatment, parent-child relationship quality, and parental monitoring in relation to adolescent behavior problems: Disaggregating between and within person effects.

BACKGROUND: Parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) and parental monitoring (PM) are associated with adolescent behavior problems following child maltreatment (CM). Whether these associations are best characterized as between (trait) or within-person (state) differences is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Disaggregate between and within-person effects for PCRQ and PM on adolescent behavior problems and test whether these effects vary as a function of prior CM. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants (n = 941) are from the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). METHODS: Multi-level modeling was employed using PCRQ, PM, and adolescent behaviors assessed at ages 12, 14, and 16 and confirmed CM prior to age 12. RESULTS: At the between-person level, adolescents with higher average levels of PCRQ and PM had significantly lower initial levels of externalizing (b = -9.47 and -5.54, respectively, p's < 0.05; possible range 0-66) and internalizing behaviors (b = -4.45 and -6.41, respectively, p's < 0.001; possible range 0-62). At the within-person level, greater declines in externalizing and internalizing behaviors were found when individuals reported higher-than-usual levels of PCRQ (b = -4.99 and -2.59, respectively, for externalizing and internalizing, p's < 0.001) and PM (b = -3.58 and -1.69, respectively, for externalizing and internalizing, p's < 0.001). There was an interaction between PM and CM on internalizing behaviors over time (b = -1.15, p = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: There are between and within-person effects of PCRQ and PM on adolescent behavior problems. Adolescents with CM histories and low levels of PM may be at risk for sustained internalizing behaviors.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Change during Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Results from a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a well-established treatment for pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been proposed as an adjunct to TF-CBT that may improve treatment effects through enhanced targeting of affect regulation, as indexed by specific changes in the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). The current study reports results from a randomized controlled feasibility trial (N = 33; Mage = 11.79 [SD = 3.08]; 64% White; 67% female) that measured RSA during Sessions 1, 4, 8, and 12 of a twelve-session TF-CBT protocol and tested whether: 1) TF-CBT + AAT achieved higher average RSA amplitudes relative to TF-CBT alone, and 2) RSA regulation, defined as less variability around person-specific RSA slopes during treatment, explained variation in post-treatment PTSD symptoms. Multilevel modeling failed to support an effect for TF-CBT + AAT on RSA amplitudes (δ001 = 0.08, p = 0.844). However, regardless of treatment condition, greater RSA withdrawal was observed within Sessions 4 (γ11 = -.01, p < .001) and 12 (γ13 = -.01, p = .015) relative to the Session 1 baseline. The average level of RSA amplitude in Session 8 was also significantly lower compared to Session 1 (γ02 = -0.70, p = .046). Intraindividual regression models demonstrated that greater RSA regulation predicted improved PTSD symptoms at post-treatment after adjusting for pre-treatment levels (b3 = 20.00, p = .012). These preliminary results offer support for future confirmatory trials testing whether affect regulation, as indexed by changes in RSA, is a mechanism of action for TF-CBT in the treatment of pediatric PTSD.

Controlling contamination in child maltreatment research: Impact on effect size estimates for child behavior problems measured throughout childhood and adolescence.

Contamination, when members of a comparison or control condition are exposed to the event or intervention under scientific investigation, is a methodological phenomenon that downwardly biases the magnitude of effect size estimates. This study tested a novel approach for controlling contamination in observational child maltreatment research. Data from The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN; N = 1354) were obtained to estimate the risk of confirmed child maltreatment on trajectories of internalizing and externalizing behaviors before and after controlling contamination. Baseline models, where contamination was uncontrolled, demonstrated a risk for greater internalizing (b = .29, p < .001, d = .40) and externalizing (b = .14, p = .040, d = .19) behavior trajectories. Final models, where contamination was controlled by separating the comparison condition into subgroups that did or did not self-report maltreatment, also demonstrated risks for greater internalizing (b = .37, p < .001, d = .51) and externalizing (b = .22, p = .028, d = .29) behavior trajectories. However, effect size estimates in final models were 27.5%-52.6% larger compared to baseline models. Controlling contamination in child maltreatment research can strengthen effect size estimates for child behavior problems, aiding future child maltreatment research design and analysis.

Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder following Exposure to Substantiated Child Maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE: Child maltreatment is among the strongest predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, less than 40% of children who have been maltreated are ever diagnosed with PTSD, suggesting that exposure to child maltreatment alone is insufficient to explain this risk. This study examined whether epigenetic age acceleration, a stress-sensitive biomarker derived from DNA methylation, explains variation in PTSD diagnostic status subsequent to child maltreatment. METHOD: Children and adolescents (N = 70; 65.7% female), 8-15 years of age (M = 12.00, SD = 2.37) and exposed to substantiated child maltreatment within the 12 months prior to study entry, were enrolled. Participants provided epithelial cheek cells via buccal swab for genotyping and quantification of epigenetic age acceleration within a case-control design. PTSD diagnostic status was determined using the Child PTSD Symptoms Scale according to the DSM-IV-TR algorithm. RESULTS: Epigenetic age acceleration predicted current PTSD status, revealing an effect size magnitude in the moderate range, OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.22- 4.51, after adjusting for sample demographics, polygenic risk for PTSD, and lifetime exposure to other childhood adversities. Supplemental analyses demonstrated that epigenetic age acceleration was related to a greater severity of PTSD arousal symptoms (r =.29, p =.015). There were no differential effects for child maltreatment subtype on epigenetic age acceleration or PTSD status. CONCLUSIONS: The biological embedding of child maltreatment may explain variation in PTSD diagnostic status and serve as a novel approach for informing selective prevention or precision-based therapeutics for those at risk for PTSD.

Child Maltreatment and Substance Use in Emerging Adulthood: Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors at the Transition to Adolescence as Indirect Pathways.

One well-established outcome of child maltreatment is an increased likelihood of substance use in emerging adulthood. However, research identifying the indirect pathways that explain this relation is lacking, thereby limiting substance use prevention efforts for the child maltreatment population. The present study helped address this gap by accessing data from The Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN; n = 1,136), a prospective cohort study of child maltreatment from birth through age eighteen. Internalizing and externalizing problems at age twelve were examined as indirect effects of the relation between child maltreatment prior to age four and substance use at age eighteen. A multiple mediator model tested the total and specific indirect effects of internalizing and externalizing concerns while controlling for demographic risk factors. Results demonstrated that the total indirect effect for internalizing and externalizing behaviors was statistically significant, Standardized Point Estimate = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.00-0.02. Examination of the specific indirect effects revealed that only externalizing behaviors constituted an indirect pathway, Standardized Point Estimate = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.00-0.03. These results suggest that externalizing behaviors at the transition to adolescence are important intervention targets for reducing the risk for substance use in emerging adulthood in the child maltreatment population.

Behavioral and pharmacological interventions for the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders with children exposed to maltreatment.

There is a well-established relation between exposure to child maltreatment and the onset and course of multiple, comorbid psychiatric disorders. Given the heterogeneous clinical presentations at the time services are initiated, interventions for children exposed to maltreatment need to be highly effective to curtail the lifelong burden and public health costs attributable to psychiatric disorders. The current review describes the most effective, well-researched, and widely-used behavioral and pharmacological interventions for preventing and treating a range of psychiatric disorders common in children exposed to maltreatment. Detailed descriptions of each intervention, including their target population, indicated age range, hypothesized mechanisms of action, and effectiveness demonstrated through randomized controlled trials research, are presented. Current limitations of these interventions are noted to guide specific directions for future research aiming to optimize both treatment effectiveness and efficiency with children and families exposed to maltreatment. Strategic and programmatic future research can continue the substantial progress that has been made in the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders for children exposed to maltreatment.

General Cognitive Ability as an Early Indicator of Problem Behavior Among Toddlers in Foster Care.

OBJECTIVE: Children who have experienced maltreatment and subsequent placement in foster care are at increased risk of problem behavior. Increased knowledge of the development of problem behavior in this population, particularly during toddlerhood, can greatly inform preventive intervention efforts. This study examined variability in problem behavior among toddlers entering new foster care placements and identified related child and parenting characteristics. METHODS: Ninety-one toddlers in foster care (mean = 2.26 years) and their caregivers completed an initial assessment and were reassessed 6 months later. A child's general cognitive ability was assessed via performance on a standardized developmental measure, and child problem behavior, parenting stress, frequency of family routines, and harsh discipline were assessed via caregiver report. RESULTS: Upon entering a new foster care placement and 6 months after placement, respectively, 38% and 25% of the toddlers were within the borderline clinical or clinical range in terms of problem behavior when assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. There was not a significant difference in problem behavior over this 6-month period, suggesting that problem behavior was quite stable among the toddlers as a group. However, general cognitive ability was a significant predictor of individual differences in change in problem behavior, with toddlers with lower general cognitive ability displaying increased problem behavior over this period. CONCLUSION: An increased number of toddlers in foster care displayed clinically significant levels of problem behavior, further demonstrating that these children are an extremely high-risk group. The association between general cognitive ability and change in problem behavior highlights the importance of early developmental screenings, which may help identify children at greatest risk of problem behavior and most in need of preventive intervention efforts.