Developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior problems among maltreated children.

Decades of research have been consistent in demonstrating a strong association between the experience of abuse or neglect and later engagement in problem behaviors. However, the extent to which maltreated children develop problem behaviors may vary widely according to their ability to manage their experiences of maltreatment, and the extent to which support is available through family, community, and social services. This dissertation is the first attempt to longitudinally investigate unobserved heterogeneity in the developmental trajectories of maltreated children. The goal of the study is to inform policy-making and the development of effective practice plans with respect to problem behaviors of maltreated children by examining the different trajectories of problem behaviors (Aim1) and by assessing factors related to each trajectory (Aim2).;This study utilized data from LONGSCAN (Longitudinal Study of Child Abuse and Neglect), in which 827 maltreated children have been followed through age 4 to age 10. Problem behaviors were repeatedly measured by sum of aggression and delinquency scores from Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist from age 4 to age 10, and factors predicting each trajectory were measured at the baseline. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation. Group-based trajectory model was used to investigate distinctive sub-group trajectories (Aim1) and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the factors related to each trajectory (Aim2). Additionally, multilevel modeling approach was used to create growth curves over time by functions of significant covariates.;This study identified five distinctive developmental trajectories of maltreated children: lowest, low-medium, decreasing, increasing, and high-chronic trajectory groups. Child developmental disability was significantly related to the increasing and high-chronic group membership compared with the lowest group. While low community quality was significantly related to the increasing group membership, biological parent perpetration is related to the high-chronic group membership. Caregiver depression and chronic maltreatment significantly predicted the diverging trajectory groups of the decreasing and the increasing. As the number of risk factors increased, the probability of lowest group membership gradually decreased, and the probability of the high-chronic group membership increased. In most trajectory groups, a specific set of risk factors distinctively predict the probability of membership in a specific group.