Family- and community-level factors related to better mental health outcomes following child maltreatment in a nationally representative American sample of adolescents

Objective: Although there is literature on factors associated with good mental health following child maltreatment, most research is drawn from unrepresentative samples and mainly focuses on individual-level factors.... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: Although there is literature on factors associated with good mental health following child maltreatment, most research is drawn from unrepresentative samples and mainly focuses on individual-level factors. Therefore, an investigation of family- and community-level factors of adolescents in a nationally representative sample is warranted. The objectives of the present study were to: 1) estimate the prevalence of child maltreatment types by overall mental health status; and 2) examine the relationship between family- and community-level factors and overall mental health status of adolescents with and without a history of maltreatment in a representative American sample.

Methods: Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey of Adolescents (NCS-A; n = 10,148; data collection 2001-2004); a large, cross-sectional, nationally representative psychiatric epidemiology survey. Respondents were adolescents’ aged 13 to 17 years from the United States (household response rate = 85.9%; school subsample response rate = 74.7%).

Results: Feeling emotionally close, having good communication, and perceived maternal and paternal empathy were associated with better mental health outcomes for adolescents with a history of child maltreatment (AOR ranging from 2.4 to 6.6 at p <.05). Being happy living in one’s neighborhood and having positive school and teacher experiences were also found to be associated with good mental health outcomes. Overall, perceived support from friends and siblings were not related to better mental health outcomes.

Conclusions: Family- and community-level factors to be included and tested within intervention efforts include encouraging supportive parent relationships, increasing happiness with living in one’s neighborhood, and facilitating positive school and teacher experiences.