@article{ref1,
title="The impact of maltreatment on internalizing symptoms for foster youth: an  examination of spirituality and appraisals as moderators",
journal="Journal of child and adolescent trauma",
year="2020",
author="Gusler, Stephanie K. and Jackson, Yo and Brown, Shaquanna",
volume="13",
number="4",
pages="455-467",
abstract="Research shows that exposure to child maltreatment increases the risk of  internalizing symptoms for youth, and that youth in foster care are at a  particularly high risk of symptoms. However, not all youth who experience  maltreatment evidence maladjustment, making the link between exposure and mental  health outcomes unclear and creating a need to examine what factors buffer against  symptomatology. A sample of youth in foster care was used to provide a new  examination of the relation between child maltreatment exposure and internalizing  symptoms, to test the possible moderating effects of both appraisals and  spirituality, and examine differences between children and adolescents. Participants  were 486 youth in foster care (M age = 13; 204 children; 282 adolescents). Youth  completed self-report measures through the SPARK project (Studying Pathways to  Adjustment and Resilience in Kids). Although appraisals and spirituality were not  significant moderators, significant main effects emerged. For children, regression  analyses showed that maltreatment exposure and lower scores on spiritual prosocial  attitudes accounted for the majority of the 21% of the variance in internalizing  symptoms. For adolescents 28% of the variance in internalizing symptoms was  accounted for by greater maltreatment exposure, lower scores on spiritual prosocial  attitudes, higher scores on relationship with a God/Higher Power, and more negative  appraisals of stressful life events. The current study provides support for  cognitive-based interventions for adolescents aimed at increasing appraisal  flexibility and suggests that both children and adolescents could benefit from the  development of prosocial attitudes often tied to spirituality but could be  reinforced in additional settings.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1936-1521",
doi="10.1007/s40653-019-00296-8",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40653-019-00296-8"
}