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Protective Effects of Religiosity on Maladjustment Among Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

NCJ Number
223961
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal Volume: 32 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 711-720
Author(s)
Jungmeen Kim
Date Published
July 2008
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the role of child religiosity in an attempt to understand resilient pathways among high-risk children with maltreatment experiences.
Abstract
The findings suggest that religiosity moderates the developmental effects of child maltreatment on adjustment outcomes, thereby accounting for some of the heterogeneity in the developmental outcomes associated with child maltreatment. The results contribute to the expanding literature on protective mechanisms in child maltreatment by demonstrating that the protective roles of child religiosity varied by risk status and gender. No study to date has trained its focus on the associations between religiosity and socioemotional and behavioral outcomes among children with maltreatment experience. This study offers a unique contribution to the field of child maltreatment and developmental psychopathology with the purpose of examining how child religiosity differentially predicts adjustment problems among maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Data were collected on 188 maltreated and 196 nonmaltreated children from low-income families, ages 6-12 years. Tables, figures and references