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Developmental pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent suicide-related behaviors: The internalizing and externalizing comorbidity hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2019

Erinn Bernstein Duprey Open the ORCID record for Erinn Bernstein Duprey [Opens in a new window] ,
Assaf Oshri  and
Sihong Liu
Erinn Bernstein Duprey*
Affiliation:
Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
Assaf Oshri
Affiliation:
The Youth Development Institute, Department of Human Development and Family Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Sihong Liu
Affiliation:
The Youth Development Institute, Department of Human Development and Family Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
*
Author for Correspondence: Erinn Duprey, Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY14642. Email: erinn_duprey@urmc.rochester.edu
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Abstract

Child maltreatment is a robust risk factor for suicidal ideation and behaviors during adolescence. Elevations in internalizing and externalizing symptomology have been identified as two distinct developmental pathways linking child maltreatment and adolescent risk for suicide. However, recent research suggests that the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing symptomology may form a distinct etiological pathway for adolescent risk behaviors. Using the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) sample (N = 1,314), the present study employed a person-centered approach to identify patterns of concurrent change in internalizing and externalizing psychopathology over five time points from early childhood to adolescence in relation to previous experiences of child maltreatment and subsequent suicidal ideation and behaviors. Results indicated four distinct bivariate externalizing and internalizing growth trajectories. Group membership in a heightened comorbid internalizing and externalizing symptom trajectory mediated the association between childhood abuse and adolescent suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviors. These findings suggest that the concurrent development of externalizing and internalizing symptoms in childhood and adolescence may constitute a unique developmental trajectory that confers risk for suicide-related outcomes.

Keywords

adolescencechild maltreatmentcomorbiditygrowth-mixture modelingsuicidal ideation and behavior

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Regular Articles
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Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , August 2020 , pp. 945 - 959
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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