Gender Differences in Trajectories of Delinquency and School Attachment Among Adolescents with a Maltreatment Experience

Background: Although research has been well established a link between childhood maltreatment and delinquency, gender differences in this link remain unclear.  Moreover, studies identified protective roles of school-related factors that deter adolescents from involvement in delinquency, especially for those who experienced maltreatment.  The purpose of this study is 1) to examine the trajectories of delinquency and school attachment over time by gender among adolescents with a maltreatment experience; 2) to examine the effect of gender on the relationship of school attachment with delinquency over time.

Method: This study utilized children’s data collected from the Korean Welfare Panel study (KWP), which utilized multi-stage stratified sampling methods in South Korea for 10 years.  Out of a total of 801 youth who participated in the study across the three time points, this study examined 348 children who completed surveys all three time points and reported experiencing child maltreatment at any time across the three time points.  Child maltreatment was measured by reports of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect (α = 0.73).  School attachment was measured with 9-items (α = 0.75).  Delinquency was measured by 8-items (α = 0.60).  Latent growth curve models was conducted to examine the initial levels and change rates of delinquency and school attachment over time by gender.  

Results: Males comprised 55% of the sample (n=192) with mean age of 10.8 years old (SD = 0.88), ranging from 9 to 13 yr. old at baseline.  Males experienced physical abuse significantly more than females at baseline (28.2% vs. 11.8%), but this significant gender difference disappeared at follow-ups.  Delinquency significantly increased over time for both males and females, wherein males showed higher levels of delinquency than females across the three waves. School attachment significantly decreased over time for both males and females, with no gender differences in school attachment over time.  Latent growth curve model tests showed that gender directly predicted the initial level of delinquency when school attachment was not entered (χ²/df=2.4, CFI=0.96, RMSEA=0.06).  But, significant direct effect of gender on delinquency disappeared after school attachment was entered (χ²/df=1.59, CFI=0.95, RMSEA=0.04).   Moreover, gender significantly predicted school attachment, which predicted the intercept and slope of delinquency.  Being a male decreased the initial level of school attachment, which increased the initial level of delinquency. While being a male increased the change rate of school attachment, which decreased the change rate of delinquency over time.  

Conclusion: Findings from this study support existing studies on the link between child maltreatment and delinquency as well as significant protective roles of school attachment on delinquency.  Moreover, it is noteworthy that gender was found to be significant in explaining school attachment while it was insignificant for delinquency when school attachment was present. This finding is inconsistent with existing studies that reported the direct effect of gender on delinquency.  This finding implies gender differences in protective roles of school attachment on delinquency and gender-specific prevention and intervention related to the school domain to reduce delinquency for adolescents with a maltreatment experience.