Multiple Types of Child Maltreatment, Posttraumatic Stress, Dissociative Symptoms, and Reactive Aggression among Adolescent Criminal Offenders.

This study focused on psychological correlates of child maltreatment histories among male adolescent offenders (N = 123). Four assessment strategies employed to assess four types of maltreatment revealed that approximately 81.9% of offenders had been exposed to at least one type of maltreatment; the majority had experienced multiple types. Multiple maltreatment positively predicted reactive aggression and dissociative symptoms; these relationships were stronger than relationships with traditional Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The significant relationship between multiple maltreatment and reactive aggression was fully mediated by dissociative symptoms and partially mediated by PTSD symptoms. We discussed the use of complex trauma models to guide assessments of and interventions with adolescent offenders who had been traumatized by multiple types of maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]