Influence of Family Environment on the Current Functioning of Children Exposed to Maltreatment

Abstract

To examine the relation between exposure to maltreatment and family environment variables (i.e., conflict, cohesion, expressiveness) in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior in 112 children, parent-report on both a family environment and behavioral outcomes measure was used. The sample consisted of a group of children exposed to maltreatment (N=60) and a comparison sample of children not exposed to maltreatment (N=52). Using hierarchical regression analyses, the present study tested the moderator models of the relation between family environment variables and behavioral outcome. Results indicated that the family environment variables of conflict and expressiveness moderated the relation between exposure to maltreatment and internalizing behaviors. Specifically, lower conflict within the home was associated with increased internalizing symptoms while higher positive expressiveness was associated with decreased internalizing symptoms for children exposed to maltreatment.