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Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Poor Economic and Educational Outcomes in the Transition to Adulthood
Sara R Jaffee1, Antony Ambler1, Melissa Merrick1
1Sara R. Jaffee is with the Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Antony Ambler, Helen L. Fisher, and Louise Arseneault are with the Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. Melissa Merrick is with the Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Sidra Goldman-Mellor is with the Department of Public Health, University of California, Merced, CA. Candice L. Odgers is with the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA. Andrea Danese is with the Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London. Melissa Merrick is also a Guest Editor for this special section.
Objectives:
To test whether childhood maltreatment was a predictor of (1) having low educational qualifications and (2) not being in education, employment, or training among young adults in the United Kingdom today.
Methods:
Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative UK cohort of 2232 twins born in 1994 to 1995. Mothers reported on child maltreatment when participants were aged 5, 7, 10, and 12 years. Participants were interviewed about their vocational status at age 18 years.
Results:
The unadjusted odds of having low educational qualifications or of not being in education, employment, or training at age 18 years were more than 2 times greater for young people with a childhood history of maltreatment versus those without. These associations were reduced after adjustments for individual and family characteristics. Youths who reported having a supportive adult in their lives had better education outcomes than did youths who had less support.
Conclusions:
Closer collaboration between the child welfare and education systems is warranted to improve vocational outcomes for maltreated youths.
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