Publication Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Shelleby, Elizabeth C.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Previous research has consistently shown that experiencing maltreatment has significant, negative effects on youth’s psychological health; however, research on the psychological impact of maltreatment is often limited by challenges in accurately capturing children’s maltreatment experiences, as most children who are exposed to maltreatment experience multiple types of maltreatment. The present study utilized latent class analyses (LCAs), a person-centered, data-driven approach to empirically identify patterns in children’s maltreatment experiences at ages 3, 5, and 9. Maltreatment class indicators included frequency of behaviorally approximated emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. Following the LCAs, associations between maltreatment class membership and youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms at ages 3, 5, 9, and 15 were examined to explore associations between patterns of maltreatment and youth psychological functioning. Three maltreatment classes were identified at age 3, five maltreatment classes were identified at age 5, and five maltreatment classes were identified at age 9. Across all ages, membership in the low and low, stable risk of maltreatment classes was significantly associated with lower internalizing and externalizing symptom scores than membership in all the other maltreatment classes. Further, findings indicated that chronic maltreatment in childhood was associated with higher internalizing and externalizing symptom scores through adolescence. These results demonstrate heightened risk for deleterious mental health outcomes for youth exposed to maltreatment and suggest that early identification of maltreatment exposure is important to potentially prevent subsequent maltreatment and negative mental health outcomes.

Extent

108 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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