Patterns of Peer Affiliation and Psycho-Behavioral Health Outcomes Among Youth at-Risk of Maltreatment

Background/Purpose: Peer relationships play a crucial role in shaping adolescents' behavioral health outcomes, particularly among youth at risk of maltreatment. A growing body of research has examined the role of peer relationships on behavioral health outcomes among youth at-risk of maltreatment. Most studies, however, have focused on deviant peer affiliation and little research has considered prosocial peer affiliation. Given the complexity of peer relationships, it is critical to simultaneously examine both prosocial and deviant peer affiliations. To this end, this study addressed the following research questions: 1) Are there underlying patterns of prosocial and/or deviant peer affiliations in youth at risk of maltreatment?; 2) Do patterns differ by maltreatment type?; and 3) How are patterns of peer affiliation associated with adolescent substance use and psychological symptoms?

Methods: This study focused on 844 adolescents (51.4% female, 57.5% Black, and 27.4% low income) drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Prosocial and deviant peer affiliation were assessed at age 14 using the modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Substantiated Child Protective Services cases (birth to age 12) were used to measure child maltreatment types (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect). Dichotomized self-reported substance use was measured at age 16, and adolescent psychological symptoms (i.e., depression and anger) were assessed using the Trauma Symptoms Inventory at age 16. Child gender, race, household income, and study sites were used as covariates. To address the research questions, latent class analysis, multinomial logistic regression analysis, and multiple logistic and OLS regressions were performed using Mplus 7.11.

Results: We identified four distinct peer affiliation patterns: 1) no affiliation with either prosocial or deviant peers (37.2%); 2) affiliation with substance-using peers (26.7%); 3) affiliation with severe deviant peers (8.6%); and 4) affiliation with prosocial peers (27.3%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that sexually abused youth were more likely to be involved in both affiliations with severe deviant or prosocial peers, compared to no affiliation with either prosocial or deviant peers. Furthermore, sexually abused youth were more likely to be affiliated with severe deviant peers than substance-using peers. Neglected youth, on the other hand, were more likely to be affiliated with substance-using peers compared to no affiliation with either prosocial or deviant peers. As for the relationship with substance use and psychological symptoms, adolescents affiliated with more deviant peers were generally more likely to use substances and exhibit psychological symptoms.

Conclusion:

This study expands our understanding of the heterogeneous patterns of peer affiliation within the context of child maltreatment and highlights the importance of examining both prosocial and deviant peer affiliations. The findings suggest that youth with a history of sexual abuse may benefit from interventions that promote a sense of belonging. Additionally, social skills interventions that support the development of positive peer relationships may be crucial in improving psycho-behavioral health outcomes for at-risk youth.