Abstract:
Although child maltreatment has been studied for several decades, there
are still substantial gaps of understanding essential areas such as the
consequences of child maltreatment and the variability in the impact of
different types of maltreatment. This study examined whether externalization
and internalization are two valid and distinctive dimensions in understanding
problem behaviors, and investigated the relations between three types of child
abuse and a wide range of problematic symptoms. Survey data were collected
from six public high schools in a rural southwestern Oregon County (N = 1,042)
on experience of abuse (emotional, physical and sexual), externalized
symptoms (use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, number of sexual partners
and gang involvement), and internalized symptoms (suicide ideation,
depression, negative self image and social isolation). Data were analyzed using
structural equation models for male and female adolescents.
Results indicated that the wide range of problematic symptoms can be
best understood as two distinctive and valid dimensions, externalization and
internalization. Consistent with results of previous studies, results of this
study confirmed a moderate to strong association between abuse and all of the
externalized and internalized behaviors. For male adolescents, emotional abuse
had a significantly stronger relationship to internalization than to
externalization. The direct effects of physical abuse on externalization and
internalization, which were both negative, were not significantly different. The
effect of sexual abuse was significantly stronger for externalization than for
internalization.
For female adolescents, the effect of emotional abuse on internalization
was significantly stronger for internalization than for externalization. The
effect of physical abuse was significantly stronger for externalization than for
internalization. The effect of sexual abuse was significantly stronger for
internalization than for externalization.
Gender differences were found in all relations between types of abuse
and externalization and internalization except for the relation between
emotional abuse and internalization. Significantly different and opposite
gammas were found between physical abuse and externalization and
internalization for males and female adolescents. Sexual abuse was the
strongest predictor for male adolescent's externalization and internalization
whereas sexual abuse was a strong predicator only for female adolescent's
internalization.
Limitations of the current study and implications for future research
and practice are also addressed.
