Caregiver victimization in community adolescents: Protective factors related to resilience

Abstract

Objective: To determine the specific protective factors that seem to be related to psychological adjustment in child and youth victims of direct and indirect forms of caregiver victimization. Method: A total of 1,105 children and youth (590 male and 515 female) from northeastern Spain and aged between 12 and 17 years were assessed regarding their experiences of caregiver victimization, symptoms of psychopathology, and protective factors. Results: Caregiver victimization during lifetime was reported by 26.8% of the overall sample. The results showed that any form of caregiver victimization was related to higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems. Some aspects of the Self domain (e.g., Social Skills or low Negative Cognition) were found to protect against internalizing problems. In the case of externalizing problems, several factors from different domains (i.e., Self, Family, and School) were found to be protective, and a significant interaction between caregiver victimization and Connectedness to School was observed. Conclusions: The results show that protective factors play a role in the explanation of emotional and behavioral problems. The findings reveal some of the protective factors that should be regarded as key intervention targets in children and youth with a history of caregiver victimization.