Citation

Connolly J. Child Maltreat. 2014; 19(3-4): 270-274.

Affiliation

York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada connolly@yorku.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077559514557932

PMID

25361789

Abstract

The articles in this issue extend the study of child maltreatment to the years of emerging adulthood. This commentary examines their contributions through the lens of two prominent clinical-developmental frameworks: developmental psychopathology and positive youth development. The concepts of cumulative risk and resilience, both central to developmental psychopathology, are enriched by the findings of the college student studies in which the reach of child maltreatment is demonstrated through selective rather than global adaptation, with difficulties in romantic relationships and psychological well-being. The findings of the studies with youth in out-of-home care reinforce the negative cascades of adversity among severely abused youths and yet also demonstrate small windows of resilience. Positive youth development focuses on the competences needed for successful adaptation in the young adult years. The papers of this issue extend this framework to youth growing up with adversity and the findings highlight the importance of prosocial connections, self-regulation and healthy belief systems. Overall, the research reported in this issue opens up new avenues of investigation for the study of child maltreatment. Research with youth from diverse backgrounds, including youth justice and child protection agencies, should be encouraged. Longitudinal and experimental research designs are also critical to furthering research in this field. Clinical implications of the findings include attention to selective domains of distress among otherwise resilient youth, domains of resilience among severely abused youth, and opportunities to foster competences which contribute to positive youth development.

Language: en