Background: Global research has found that prevalence rates of child sexual abuse suggest that this is a significant ongoing public health concern. A recent Australian study, for example, revealed that more than three girls and almost one in five boys reported experiencing sexual abuse before the age of 18. Self-reported rates of abuse, however,…

Juvenile recidivism is a serious public health concern. Using statewide administrative data, this study examined the independent predictive value of childhood maltreatment on repeat offending and compared risk factors for recidivism between 698 first-time juvenile offenders with maltreatment and their propensity score matched sample of 698 without…

Emotional maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent depression. Yet, it remains unclear whether commissions and omissions of emotional maltreatment (a) confer vulnerability via distinct mechanisms and (b) demonstrate similar risk across adolescent subpopulations. The present, multiwave study examined whether school engagement and peer…

Criminological literature has examined the potential for gendered pathways of offending, while also recognizing the gendered risk for victimization. General strain theory explicitly recognizes this gendered risk as strains that structure differences in these experiences for males and females. The current article tests the longitudinal risk for…

Growing evidence suggests that exposure to early-life adversity poses risk to youth development, with impaired mental health a central concern. This population-representative study of adolescent students (n = 11,222) investigates the effects of two key forms of early adversity--victimization and poverty--on adolescent mental health in a step-wise…

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with health-risk behaviors in general samples of adults and adolescents. The current study examined the association between ACEs and these behaviors among a high-risk sample of early adolescents. Five hundred fifteen 9- to 11-year-old children placed in foster care due to maltreatment were…

Evidence shows that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a root cause of risk behaviors. Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) can potentially moderate the health risks associated with ACEs. This study examines the relationships among SSNRs in childhood, ACEs, and two risk behaviors in adulthood (smoking tobacco and binge…

Providing treatment to survivors of human trafficking requires mental health professionals to understand complex layers of multiple traumas. These layers include an understanding of how trafficking occurs; what gender, ages, sexual orientations, life circumstances, and ethnicities are most at risk to be trafficked; the lasting impact of…

Children in child welfare protective custody (e.g., foster care) are known to have increased health concerns compared to children not in protective custody. The poor health documented for children in protective custody persists well into adulthood; young adults who emancipate from protective custody report poorer health, lower quality of life, and…

School absenteeism is oftentimes couched in Pakistan's local media and reports of development agencies in terms of "ghost schools" and "ghost teachers." Little has been written in the scholarly literature of the universal right to education about how this phenomenon is affecting the school attendance of primary and secondary…

Finishing high school and attaining a college degree have become increasingly important to finding stable employment and earning a living wage. By age 19, most youth in the US have earned a high school credential and many have entered college. However, the educational attainment of young people who were in foster care as adolescents lags behind…

This exploratory longitudinal study examined behavioral outcomes and parenting stress among families with children adopted from foster care, taking into account environmental and biological risk factors. Child internalizing and externalizing problems and parenting stress were assessed in 82 adopted children and their families at 2 months…

An attachment-based, psychotherapeutic parent education course was created for incarcerated mothers and fathers to help improve their ability to provide positive parenting and a more stable home environment for their children. The current study assessed the effects of this parenting curriculum on parents' reported tendencies to be abusive, their…

This study examined patterns of association between experiencing 12 traumatic life events, resilience, and substance use at a conservative church-affiliated university. The authors used data (N = 278) from a Health Risk and Protective Factors Study that was conducted during the 2012 spring semester. Initial bivariate analysis indicated several…

The association between childhood and adolescent abuse and suicidal behavior, and the possible contribution of abuse to sex differences in non lethal suicidal behavior, was investigated. Data were extracted from the Israel-based component of the WHO World Mental Health Survey (Kessler & Utsun, 2008a). Increased risk for ideation, plan, and…