The Protective Role of School Connectedness in the Relationship between Child Maltreatment Subtypes and Youth Internalizing Symptoms: Comparisons of Differences across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Background and Purpose:

Child maltreatment (CM) is a well-known risk factor that threatens positive youth development. School is an important environment where youths develop interpersonal and social-emotional skills. Research has shown that school connectedness (SC) is a key factor in fostering healthy youth development. However, few studies have examined whether the protective role of SC functions differently across racial/ethnic groups and in the context of CM. Further, most existing studies focus on externalizing behaviors, leaving a gap in understanding the role of SC in mitigating internalizing symptoms associated with CM. This study aims to fill these gaps by examining the protective role of SC on youth internalizing symptoms in the context of CM, with an emphasis on potential variations across racial/ethnic groups.

Methods:

Data are from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of 4,898 families from large U.S. cities. Our analytic sample was limited to those with complete data (n = 3,024). CM was assessed using the primary caregiver (PCG) report at child ages 3, 5, and 9, using three subscales of the Conflict Tactics Scale (i.e., physical assault, psychological aggression, neglect). SC was measured using youth self-report at age 15, including items on the level of closeness, happiness, inclusiveness, and safety they felt at school. Youth internalizing symptoms were assessed at age 15, using three scales: 1) PCG-reported internalizing symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist, 2) youth-reported depression using the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and 3) youth-reported anxiety using the Brief Symptom Inventory 18. We estimated a series of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models to examine the associations among CM subtypes, SC, and youth internalizing symptoms. Interaction effects examined the potential differential buffering effect of SC in the relationship between CM and youth internalizing symptoms across racial/ethnic groups (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial).

Results:

The OLS regression results indicated that neglect significantly predicted higher levels of all three outcome measures representing youth internalizing symptoms. Psychological aggression significantly predicted higher levels of PCG-reported internalizing symptoms in youths. SC was significantly associated with lower levels of all three outcome measures of youth internalizing symptoms. Significant interaction effects were found. SC significantly lessened the effect of psychological aggression on caregiver-reported youth internalizing symptoms only for White youths. Similarly, SC significantly attenuated the effect of physical assault on youth-reported depressive symptoms only for White youths.

Conclusions and Implications:

Our findings demonstrate the buffering role of SC in mitigating the effect of CM on PCG-reported internalizing symptoms and youth-reported depression for White youths. However, the absence of such protective effect of SC for racially/ethnically minoritized youths points to broader systemic issues that may affect these youths’ school experience differently than that of their White peers. Our study underscores the need for a collaborative approach between families, educators, researchers, and policymakers in co-creating inclusive school environments that recognize and address the needs of racial/ethnically diverse students to ensure that all youths, regardless of race/ethnicity, benefit equally from the school environment, particularly those with maltreatment histories.