Longitudinal Associations Between Dysfunctional Maltreatment-Related Cognitions and Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents

Dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions seem to play an important role in adjustment after traumatic experiences. However, little research has been done on maltreated children and adolescents. Furthermore, possible causal associations between cognitions, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems have rarely been investigated. In the current study, 263 maltreated children and adolescents (8-17 years of age) were assessed at baseline and again at time points 6 and either 12 or 18 months later. Cross-lagged panel analyses were used to gain a better understanding of the course of and associations among dysfunctional maltreatment-related cognitions, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Ratings of all variables significantly decreased over time. Moderate to strong autoregressive paths emerged for all variables, denoting stability. Furthermore, the variables showed moderate to high correlations at every assessment. Posttraumatic stress symptoms moderately predicted dysfunctional maltreatment-related cognitions as well as internalizing and externalizing problems 6 months after baseline. Cross-lagged paths from the cognitions as well as from internalizing and externalizing problems to all other variables were not significant. Age, gender, and maltreatment characteristics did not play a relevant role in these cross-lagged associations when they were included as covariates. Our results underline the cognitive scar model, in which preceding posttraumatic stress symptoms adversely impact cognitions. Posttraumatic stress symptoms appear to be an important target for treatment as their reduction may help decrease internalizing and externalizing problems as well.