Patterns of Protective Factors Following Childhood Maltreatment and Youth Developmental Outcomes

Abstract

This study examines heterogeneity of protective factors (PFs) following experiences of childhood maltreatment and their associations with youths’ key developmental outcomes—social skills, positive functioning, and depressive symptoms. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,804), we employed latent class analysis to identify distinct PF profiles across family, school, and neighborhood contexts. Three classes emerged: (1) Overall high PFs (63.5%), (2) High family-level, low community-level PFs (32.7%), and (3) Low family-level, high community-level PFs (3.8%). Youth in the Overall high PFs class demonstrated more favorable outcomes, while youth in the Low family-level, high community-level PFs class showed poorer adjustment. Findings underscore the importance of understanding how distinct clusters of PFs across ecological domains shape youth development following experiences of childhood maltreatment. Results have implications for understanding resilience and emphasize the need for interventions that support protective resources across ecological domains.

Keywords

child maltreatment protective factors resilience latent class analysis youth development

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