Does it add up? Educational achievement mediates child maltreatment subtypes to allostatic load

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.

This study examined educational achievement as a mediator linking cumulative and individual types of CM to AL and examined gender as a moderator.

Using two waves of data, 897 adults from the study Midlife in the United States were analyzed.

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.

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.

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.