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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
07:36
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
Childhood victimization and crime victimization
Jared Kean McIntyre1, Cathy Spatz Widom
1John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY 10019, USA.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
|May 28, 2010
Summary
Child abuse and neglect significantly increase the risk of physical and sexual crime victimization in adulthood. Lifestyle factors like running away partially mediate this relationship, with variations by sex and race/ethnicity.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Child abuse and neglect are significant adverse childhood experiences.
- Understanding long-term victimization risks is crucial for intervention.
- The role of lifestyle factors in mediating these risks requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if child abuse and neglect increase the risk of subsequent crime victimization.
- To examine the mediating role of lifestyle characteristics in this relationship.
- To explore variations in these associations based on sex and race/ethnicity.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study design.
- Matching of abused/neglected children (n=497) with non-abused controls (n=395).
- Logistic and ordinary least square regressions for risk and mediation analysis in middle adulthood.
Main Results:
- Child abuse/neglect significantly increased risk for physical (OR=2.56) and sexual (OR=2.28) victimization.
- No significant increase in property crime victimization risk was found.
- Running away partially mediated the link between child abuse/neglect and physical/sexual victimization.
Conclusions:
- Childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for adult physical and sexual victimization.
- Lifestyle factors, particularly running away, play a mediating role.
- Interventions should consider sex and race/ethnicity differences in victimization pathways.
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