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Childhood maltreatment and neglect are associated with a host of negative outcomes. Yet, some children show resilience despite their exposure to these traumatic events. Several protective factors have been documented in the literature, but few studies focus on protective factors in the child’s community that can promote resilience. The purpose of this review was to provide a comprehensive portrait of the impact of community protective factors on the resilience of abused and neglected children. The databases PsycNet and PubMed were used to screen the literature relying on the following inclusion criteria: (1) published in English or in French; (2) report empirical and quantitative data; (3) include a minimum sample size of 30 participants; (4) rely on a sample of maltreated children or adolescents under the age of 24; (5) examine the associations between community protective factors and indicators of psychological adaptation; and (6) include outcome measures that assessed either positive adaptation or the absence of symptomatology in participants. Of the 9,553 articles identified, 44 studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in this review. Although many protective factors show significant results, several methodological limitations remain to be examined to affirm that these community variables have a significant impact on the level of resilience of maltreated children. Since child maltreatment is a systemic issue, it remains important to fully understand how community protective factors operate on the resilience of these children as it can greatly inform practitioners and community institutions on how to intervene with populations at risk of maltreatment.

This study sought to test a serial mediation model in which depressive symptoms and hostile attributions mediate the relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms and peer victimization in a sample of child victims of sexual abuse. Participants included 771 children aged 6 to 12 years old, consulting specialized intervention settings following disclosure of sexual abuse. Children completed questionnaires assessing their levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms and experiences of peer victimization in the school context. Vignettes were used to assess hostile attributions for instrumental and relational provocations. Results of the path analysis revealed that post-traumatic stress symptoms were associated with depressive symptoms, which were linked to greater hostile attributions for relational provocations, which were in turn associated to a greater likelihood of reporting peer victimization. Hostile attributions for instrumental provocations were not related to peer victimization.

Sexual abuse and peer victimization often co-occur and generate similar repercussions. The current study aimed to determine the extent to which child sexual abuse is associated to peer victimizatio...

BACKGROUND A few studies suggest that children who suffered maltreatment are more at risk for victimization by peers. However, there is little knowledge about factors that may influence the risk of re-victimization by peers for sexually abused (SA) children. OBJECTIVES Identify if self-blame and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are risk factors for SA children victimization by peers. DESIGN/METHODS 376 children (248 girls and 128 boys) between 5 to 14 years of age were recruited within five centers for child and youth SA evaluation. Victimization by peers was measured with the Report Victimization Scale answered by the child, his parent and his teacher. PTSS were measured with the subscale of the Children’s Impact of Traumatic Events Scale (CITES II) and self-blame was measured with three items from the subscale guilt/blame of ​CITES II. Characteristics of the abuse were abstracted from the medical chart. Description of SA was done according to Russell’s classification: less severe (physical contact over clothing), severe (physical contact without penetration, and without using of force), very severe (attempted or actual penetration). Statistical analysis was done through logistic regression. RESULTS Abuse was very severe in 61% of cases and chronic in 37.4% of cases. Aggressors were family members in 53.3% of cases. Clinical level of peer victimization was reported for 19.2% of children by their own score, 9.2% by parental score and 3.6% by teacher’s score. PTSS were at the clinical level for 53.3% of children Around 60% of the sample reported feelings of blame, as indicated by at least one score of “somewhat true”on one of the three items. The dichotomized analysis (clinical vs subclinical score of victimization by peers) showed that PTSS were positively associated with the child’s peer victimization score (Exp (B) = 1.05, p CONCLUSION These results suggest that PTSS and self-blame are key targets for intervention in order to diminish the risk of victimization by peers in SA children.