TY - JOUR PY - 2024// TI - Does it add up? Educational achievement mediates child maltreatment subtypes to allostatic load JO - Child abuse and neglect A1 - Fitzgerald, Michael A1 - Hall, Haley SP - e106630 EP - e106630 VL - 149 IS - N2 - BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment (CM) has been linked to higher levels of allostatic load (AL) and educational achievement is a possible pathway and may differ across gender. It is also critical to determine if CM severity or specific subtypes of CM are more or less influential.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined educational achievement as a mediator linking cumulative and individual types of CM to AL and examined gender as a moderator. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Using two waves of data, 897 adults from the study Midlife in the United States were analyzed.

METHODS: Multiple group structural equation models stratified across gender to test were used cumulative maltreatment and maltreatment subtypes to AL and test gender as a moderator.

RESULTS: Overall CM was associated with educational achievement (β = -0.12, p < .01) and AL (β = 0.11, p < .05) and education was inversely associated with AL (β = -0.17, p < .001) in men but not women. The subtypes model revealed that physical abuse predicted lower level of education achievement (β = -0.20, p < .001) and among men. Educational achievement, in turn, was associated with lower levels of AL (β = -0.02, p = .002). Educational achievement was a possible pathway linking physical abuse to AL (β = 0.02, 95 % CI [0.001, 0.040]) among men but was non-significant in women. Gender did not moderate any of the pathways.

CONCLUSIONS: Educational achievement is a potentially modifiable social determinant of health that can be a focus of prevention and intervention efforts among men who were maltreated, particularly for those who experienced physical abuse.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0145-2134 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106630 ID - ref1 ER -