Childhood Maltreatment, Self-Esteem, and Intimate Partner Violence in a Clinical Sample of Economically Marginalized...

African American women are disproportionately exposed to childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV). We examined two dimensions of self-esteem as potential mediators of the childhood maltreatment-IPV association in 232 African American women living below the federal poverty threshold. Three childhood maltreatment subtypes correlated with exposure to physical IPV. Four childhood maltreatment subtypes correlated with exposure to nonphysical IPV and lower self-esteem according to women's self-perceptions (Self) but not their beliefs about how others view them (Other). Lower self-esteem on each dimension was associated with greater exposure to physical and nonphysical IPV. Mediation analyses with bootstrapping revealed that both dimensions of self-esteem were significant mediators. Findings suggest that culturally responsive interventions that bolster self-esteem may mitigate the effects of childhood maltreatment on African American women's relationships.