Relative effects of the different types and subtypes of child maltreatment on aggressive and withdrawn behaviour

Abstract

The range and gravity of the problems which maltreated children present may, at least partly, be attributed to the type and intensity of the maltreatment suffered. The objective of the present investigation was to analyze the role played by child abuse in two very common types of problem behavior in maltreated children, namely those of aggression and withdrawal. The subjects were 174 children and adolescents, institutionalized due to the maltreatment they had received in their homes, fundamentally that of physical neglect. The results of the analyses of regression show that aggressive behavior is found to be strongly associated with psychological maltreatment and, more specifically, with rejection/degradation and corruption. The effects of physical maltreatment or of physical neglect on aggressive behaviour disappeared when psychological maltreatment was taken into account. Nevertheless, no type of abuse allowed the prediction of withdrawn behaviour to a statistically significant level.

Relative effects of the different types and subtypes of child maltreatment on aggressive and withdrawn behaviour