Exploring the relationships between concurrent types of interpersonal child maltreatments and severity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology : the moderated mediational role of a child’s strengths

Most children exposed to interpersonal violence experience multiple forms of victimizations that are more predictive of trauma symptomatology than single traumatic incidents. This exploratory study seeks to extend research that suggests a child’s intrinsic strengths may help mitigate the development of serious psychiatric symptoms for children experiencing multiple interfamilial victimizations. Utilizing a diverse clinical sample (N= 106) of children 7 to 18 years of age who were exposed to multiple family traumas or to non-interpersonal traumas, path analysis models (moderation, mediational, and moderated mediational) were employed across potential explanatory or attenuating demographic factors (age, ethnicity, and gender) to ascertain the associations between multiple interpersonal maltreatment types experienced, childs’ behavioral and emotional strengths, and their posttraumatic stress symptomatology and/or behavioral and emotional difficulty symptoms.