The influence of attachment on relationships of child maltreatment to psychological symptoms and crime severity among juvenile offenders

Juvenile offenders represent a population with reportedly high prevalence rates of a history of child maltreatment, disturbed parental relationships and psychiatric symptoms, yet little is known about the psychological correlates of maltreatment in this population or individual differences in such correlates. The present study examined associations between these study variables, and apparently contributed the first examination of the potential mediating and moderating effects of parent-adolescent attachment on relationships of maltreatment to psychological symptoms and crime severity among juvenile offenders. In addition, the present study addressed a vacuum in the literature by testing the differential effects of assessment methods on eliciting abuse histories among adolescent offenders.;Participants were 140 male, severe juvenile offenders, ages thirteen to nineteen. Approximately half were Caucasian, a third were Latino, and the remainder were multi-racial. All were repeat offenders, and a majority had committed violent crimes. Four methods were employed to assess physical, sexual and psychological abuse, neglect, and witnessing domestic violence. The methods included clinical reports by Probation Department staff, Department of Social Services records, and adolescents' responses to both the Conflict Tactics Scales and questionnaires that directly inquired about "abuse." Measures also assessed histories of violent crimes, parent-adolescent relationships, and posttraumatic and depressive symptoms.;The results supported previous findings from other populations of associations between histories of child maltreatment and both poorer attachment scores and elevated symptom levels, contributing to the relatively small literature that addresses these associations among adolescent offenders. Some indices of maltreatment were also associated with more severe and violent criminal histories. Moreover, the methods of evaluating a history of maltreatment elicited significantly different apparent prevalence rates and differentially affected apparent associations of maltreatment with attachment, symptoms and criminal violence, suggesting the need to employ multiple assessment strategies. Attachment did not consistently mediate or moderate associations of maltreatment to symptoms or criminal history, although some isolated findings were of interest. Effects of relationship to perpetrator were also explored. Clinical and policy implications are presented. These implications concern the need to test abuse-specific interventions for adolescent offenders with maltreatment histories.