Do Trajectories of Sensation Seeking Vary by Sex and Child Maltreatment Subtypes?

Abstract

Child maltreatment and elevated sensation seeking are associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. Longitudinal data from a study of Puerto Ricans living in two sociocultural contexts were used to determine whether child maltreatment subtypes, sex, or sociocultural context relate to trajectories of sensation seeking. Participants were 2,489 individuals from the Boricua Youth Study (48.5% girls) living in New York and in Puerto Rico (PR; 5–15 years old at Wave 1). Subtypes of child maltreatment were measured using child report on the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale and the Sexual Victimization Scale at Wave 1. The association between child maltreatment subtypes, sex, sociocultural context, and previously established sensation-seeking trajectories across three waves of data collection was probed using multinomial logistic regression. Girls, but not boys, who experienced neglect (adjusted odds ratio; AOR; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 5.33 [1.35, 21.03]), or physical abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 3.66 [1.07, 12.54]), were more likely to have an elevated sensation-seeking trajectory than a normative trajectory. For boys, none of the maltreatment subtypes were linked to the elevated sensation-seeking class. Girls exposed to verbal abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.33 [0.15, 0.75]) and boys exposed to physical abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.39 [0.16, 0.97]) were less likely to belong to the low sensation-seeking class. No significant interactions between sociocultural context (i.e., PR vs. New York) and maltreatment subtype on the development of sensation seeking were found. This research suggests sensation-seeking levels vary by experiences of childhood maltreatment, and that sex moderates the relationship between child maltreatment experiences and sensation seeking, with an association between some maltreatment subtypes and elevated sensation-seeking trajectories found in girls, but not boys. These results underline the importance of considering sex when examining how child maltreatment relates to outcomes.

Keywords

neglect child abuse physical abuse sexual abuse Hx of child abuse PTSD domestic violence and cultural contexts

Introduction

Both child maltreatment and elevated levels of sensation seeking are associated with a wide range of negative, externalizing outcomes in adulthood, including increased rates of substance use, substance use disorders (SUDs), and antisocial behaviors (Charles et al., 2017; Keyes et al., 2012; Leeman et al., 2014; Mann et al., 2017). Cross-sectional studies suggest that maltreatment-related increases in sensation seeking are associated with increases in risky behaviors, such as substance use and as risky sexual activity (Bornovalova et al., 2008; S. T. Kim et al., 2018; Oshri et al., 2018). However, longitudinal measures of sensation seeking are necessary to determine the prospective association between childhood maltreatment and sensation seeking. Child maltreatment rates, rates of specific child maltreatment subtypes, and sensation-seeking levels differ by sex (Cross et al., 2013; Finkelhor et al., 2014; H. Kim et al., 2017; McLaughlin et al., 2013; Moody et al., 2018; Wildeman et al., 2014). Yet, it is currently unclear what role sex and child maltreatment subtype play in the development of sensation seeking across childhood and adolescence. Similarly, while research has demonstrated that prevalence rates of child maltreatment subtypes vary by sociocultural context (Feldman et al., 2010; Suglia et al., 2019), it is unclear if the relationship between child maltreatment subtypes, sex, and sensation seeking relates to sociocultural context.

Prevalence rates of maltreatment subtypes vary by child sex. For example, studies consistently find that girls experience more sexual assaults than boys (H. Kim et al., 2017; McLaughlin et al., 2013; Moody et al., 2018). Furthermore, some studies have found that boys experience more physical abuse and girls experience more emotional abuse and neglect, while other studies find similar rates in boys and girls (Finkelhor et al., 2014; H. Kim et al., 2017; McLaughlin et al., 2013; Moody et al., 2018; Stoltenborgh et al., 2011). The relationship between childhood maltreatment and subsequent biobehavioral development is thought to differ by sex, with discriminable effects on endocrine and behavioral outcomes in girls versus boys who experienced maltreatment (Doom et al., 2013; Lansford et al., 2010; Meng & D’Arcy, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to consider the role of sex in the relationship between maltreatment experiences and the development of sensation seeking.

While externalizing behaviors are more common in boys (Merikangas et al., 2009), child maltreatment increases externalizing behavior in both girls and boys (Grasso et al., 2013; Jung et al., 2017). Furthermore, some types of maltreatment, including physical and sexual abuse, have been found to have a greater association with externalizing behaviors in girls and women than boys and men (Lansford et al., 2010; Meng & D’Arcy, 2016; Molnar et al., 2001; Shin et al., 2010). However, studies examining the associations between child abuse or maltreatment and externalizing behaviors without accounting for subtypes of abuse or maltreatment have found a larger (Moylan et al., 2010), or more direct (Maschi et al., 2008) association in boys compared with girls. Sex and maltreatment type have also been found to be important moderators of how child maltreatment shapes neurodevelopment (Teicher et al., 2016, 2018). Therefore, it is important to examine the relationship between maltreatment subtypes, sex, and sensation-seeking trajectories in children.

Latinx communities comprise the largest ethnic minority group in the United States, have higher rates of maltreatment than White non-Latinx children, and have worse SUD treatment outcomes than the general U.S. population (Alvarez et al., 2007; Sacks & Murphey, 2018; U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). However, Latinx communities are underrepresented in empirical research studies (Konkel, 2015). Given these elevated risk factors, elucidating mechanisms of SUD risk in Latinx populations is particularly important. In addition, specific cultural identities within the Latinx umbrella deserve attention. Exploring the relationship between sex, childhood maltreatment, and sensation-seeking trajectories in Puerto Rican youth is important, given the particularly high prevalence of maltreatment identified in Puerto Rican families compared with general rates in the United States (Ramos-Olazagasti et al., 2017), rates among other Hispanic populations in the United States (Johnson-Motoyama et al., 2015), and rates among children in the South Bronx compared with those in Puerto Rico (Feldman et al., 2010).

In Puerto Rican youth, maltreatment has been found to relate to increased risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and depressive symptoms, with evidence that maltreatment type and sex moderate this relationship (Gonzalez et al., 2019; Jaschek et al., 2016). In addition, adverse childhood experiences, including maltreatment, have been found to increase the risk for early initiation of alcohol use (Ramos-Olazagasti et al., 2017). Higher levels of sensation seeking in Puerto Rican youth have also been associated with increased externalizing behaviors, including increased antisocial behaviors and delinquency, whereas increased parental monitoring and warmth has been found to buffer the relationship between sensation-seeking and antisocial behaviors (Maldonado-Molina et al., 2009; Okuda et al., 2019). Given that both maltreatment and increased sensation seeking are associated with increased externalizing behaviors, it is possible that maltreatment could lead to increased risk factors such as early initiation of substance use, increased antisocial behaviors, and increased delinquency via increased sensation seeking.

According to relative deprivation models (Wood, 1989), the prevalence of maltreatment within a sociocultural context (e.g., San Juan vs. South Bronx) can moderate the response to maltreatment experiences. A key difference between these two sociocultural contexts is that in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican youth are part of the majority population, whereas in the South Bronx, New York, Puerto Rican youth are an ethnic minority population. To examine the association between ethnic minority status, childhood maltreatment subtypes, and the development of sensation seeking, a longitudinal study design across the two sites such as San Juan and the South Bronx is necessary. Therefore, to examine these questions, we analyzed data from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of 2,491 Puerto Rican children and adolescents living in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the South Bronx, New York.

Sensation seeking is conceptualized as a personality trait characterized by a need for novel and varied experiences and is associated with a willingness to engage in risky behaviors to obtain these experiences (Russo et al., 1991; Zuckerman, 2007; Zuckerman et al., 1978). Childhood sensation seeking may be an early precursor to later risky behavior, such as substance misuse or risky sexual behaviors, and improved understanding of this risk factor could aid in the development of novel avenues for prevention. Therefore, a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between child maltreatment subtypes, sex, sociocultural context, and trajectories of sensation seeking is required.

Sensation seeking generally develops along a characteristic trajectory, rising in early adolescence and then descending in late adolescence (Harden & Tucker-Drob, 2011; Steinberg et al., 2008). However, beyond this expected trajectory, an individual’s level of sensation seeking has been traditionally conceptualized as a stable personality trait. In other words, an individual who is high in sensation seeking is thought to remain at the upper end of the spectrum throughout the process of development (Zuckerman, 2007; Zuckerman et al., 1991). However, recent theories of personality development suggest that chronic adverse situations or repeated stressful events could shape development of traits such as sensation seeking (Baumert et al., 2017; Tucker-Drob, 2017). Similarly, recent theories of evolutionary psychology posit that living in a harsh and/or unpredictable environment leads to increases in externalizing traits, including sensation seeking, with higher levels of sensation seeking more common in boys than in girls (Hengartner, 2017). Several studies have examined individual differences in the development of sensation seeking, demonstrating that individuals can be grouped into different classes with distinct developmental trajectories of sensation seeking, and that sex is related to trajectory membership (Lynne-Landsman et al., 2011; Martins et al., 2015). However, it remains unclear if child maltreatment subtype, sex, and sociocultural context relate to membership in higher or lower trajectories of sensation seeking.

Sensation-seeking trajectories were previously identified in this sample using growth mixture models (GMMs) and age-adjusted sensation-seeking scores (Martins et al., 2015). Individuals were classified into one of the four trajectories that extended across three waves of assessment:

A “normative” trajectory was characterized by scores that remained stable near 0 (i.e., near the age-adjusted average score) and contained the largest group of individuals.

A “low” trajectory comprised scores that remained stable approximately 2 points lower than the average.

An “accelerated” trajectory was characterized by low scores at Wave 1 that accelerated across subsequent waves, resulting in a near average mean score at Wave 3.

The “elevated” trajectory, previously referred to as the “stabilizer” trajectory, comprised scores approximately >4 points above average at Wave 1 that decreased across subsequent waves, still resulting in higher than average scores at Wave 3 (Martins et al., 2015).

We hypothesized that, overall, child maltreatment would be associated with membership in the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory, with child maltreatment more strongly associated with trajectory membership for girls than for boys. Previous research shows that physical and sexual abuse is associated with greater increases in externalizing behaviors in girls compared with boys (Lansford et al., 2010; Meng & D’Arcy, 2016; Molnar et al., 2001; Shin et al., 2010). Therefore, we hypothesized that maltreatment subtypes and sex would interact, such that girls, but not boys, who experienced physical and sexual abuse would be more likely to belong to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory.

Method

Participants

We used data from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of 2,491 Puerto Rican children and adolescents living in the South Bronx, New York (n = 1,138; 549 girls), and in San Juan and Caguas, Puerto Rico (n = 1,353; 658 girls).

Procedures

Assessments were conducted in three waves, from 2000 to 2004, 1 year apart from each other. At the time of recruitment (Wave 1), most (92.7%) children were aged 5 to 13 years but some were as old as 15 years. Briefly, the sampling strategy was a multistage probability sample of households of the target population, using weights to represent the populations of Puerto Rican children in the two settings. Up to three children were invited to participate per selected household. A random selection of children was used in households with more than three eligible children. More detailed information about sampling and recruitment methods can be found elsewhere (Bird et al, 2006). Parents provided informed consent and youth aged 7 years or older signed assent forms. During the consent process, participants were informed that instances of child abuse would be reported to the appropriate authorities in Puerto Rico or New York. Interviews of parents and children were conducted in Spanish or English according to interviewees’ preference by laypersons trained in informed consent and interview administration. The main variables of interest, child maltreatment and sensation seeking, were based on child report alone. Interviewers were bilingual at the New York site and fluent in Spanish at the San Juan site. Parent–child dyads were compensated US$75 at each wave for study participation. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Boards of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the University of Puerto Rico Medical School.

The majority of participants at Wave 1 also participated in Waves 2 and 3; 8.2% of the sample was not interviewed at Wave 2 and 12.2% at Wave 3, with attrition rates being greater in New York than in Puerto Rico at Wave 2 (10.6% vs. 6.2%) and Wave 3 (14.4% vs. 10.4%). Missing data analyses, taking into account the complex survey design, examined whether baseline characteristics (i.e., participant sex, study site, maternal education, single-parent household, family socioeconomic status, parental psychopathology) predicted missing status at the two follow-ups. Missing status was predicted only by place of residency (living in the South Bronx). Of 2,491 respondents, two had missing values on sensation seeking in all the three waves and, therefore, were excluded from analyses. The final sample included 2,489 individuals. At Wave 1, 1.5% of the sample was missing information regarding neglect, 1.5% regarding verbal abuse, 2.0% regarding physical abuse, and 2.6% regarding sexual abuse.

Measures

Exposure: Child maltreatment

Children reported their exposure to four types of child maltreatment via interview: neglect, verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, all measured at Wave 1. Neglect, verbal abuse, and physical abuse were measured using a child-adapted version of the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus et al., 1998). The scale measured neglect using four items (e.g., How many times in your whole life has any adult in your family, your parents, or foster parents left you without the food you needed?). Neglect was considered present if a child endorsed one or more event. Verbal abuse was measured using two items (Sworn or cursed at you?; Told you that you would be sent away or kicked out of the house?). Children who endorsed one or more event at least twice in their lives were classified as having experienced verbal abuse. Physical abuse was measured using four items (e.g., How many times in your whole life has any adult in your family, your parents, or foster parents hit you with something like a belt, hairbrush, a stick, or some other hard object?) and considered present if the child experienced one or more physical abuse events. Sexual abuse was measured using three questions from the Sexual Victimization Scale (Finkelhor & Dziubaleatherman, 1994; e.g., Has anyone ever tried to touch you, grab you, or kiss you in a sexual way, or has done something sexual that made you feel afraid, bad, or used?). Sexual abuse was considered present if a child endorsed one or more sexual abuse events.

When participants endorsed physical or sexual abuse during the interview, this information was immediately brought to the attention of the principal investigator, who provided clinical backup and decided how to proceed. In addition, if the need for mental health services was detected during an interview, referral for services was made.

Outcome: Sensation seeking

Sensation seeking was measured through an adaptation of the Russo’s sensation-seeking scale (Russo et al., 1991), an abbreviated 10-item scale derived from Zuckerman’s sensation-seeking scale (seven items from the subscale’s thrill and adventure-seeking factor and three from the social disinhibition subscale; Zuckerman et al., 1978). The instrument was adapted for children as young as 5 years old. Responses for each item allowed participants to choose between two options, for example, for Item 1: “You don’t like to do dangerous things” or “Sometimes you like to do things that are a little scary.” The instrument showed acceptable internal consistency in this sample (Cronbach’s α ranging from .64 to .77 across the three waves). As described elsewhere (Martins et al., 2015), an assessment to test differential item functioning across different ages showed none of the items had moderate or large effect size for differential item functioning (i.e., all standardized direct effects <0.15) indicating that the sensation seeking was measured consistently across different ages. A full description of mean scores of sensation seeking across groups of participants is available elsewhere (Martins et al., 2015).

Sex

We classified sex as male/female based on parental response.

Covariates

Because maltreatment often happens in the context of other adversities (Grasso et al., 2019; Radford et al., 2013; Ramos-Olazagasti et al., 2017), we adjust for family socioeconomic status (household classified by information on income/number of household residents as above or below the U.S. federal poverty guidelines); parental psychopathology (any psychological or emotional problem); and parental alcohol/drug abuse problems (yes/no). We also control for study context represented by study site (Puerto Rico/South Bronx) and maternal education (less than high school/at least high school/at least some college education). All covariates were measured at Wave 1. The Family History Screen for Epidemiologic Studies (FHE; Lish et al., 1995) was used to assess parental alcohol/drug abuse problems. The FHE has shown to have excellent to good specificity for individual psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, alcohol/drug dependence) and for all categories of diagnoses as a whole, and the sensitivity is excellent to good for most diagnoses and fair to poor for drug and alcohol abuse (Lish et al., 1995). Two items from the FHE were used: any parental figure has ever had or been thought to have a (a) drinking or (b) drug problem. The FHE has been recommended for rapid screening for psychiatric disorders in adult informants (Lish et al., 1995).

Also included was a measure of probable antisocial personality disorder, developed for this study, using 20 questions based on diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000) and one item from the Family Psychiatric Screening Instrument for Epidemiologic Studies scale. In addition, a demographic survey assessed maternal education and family socioeconomic status. Parents also reported if they were divorced, separated, or widowed.

Exposure to other types of violence was assessed using a previously validated scale (Ceballo et al., 2001; Richters & Martinez, 1993) that includes 10 items (e.g., being chased by gangs; beaten up or mugged; arrested or taken to the precinct by the police; been in a serious accident where you thought that someone would get hurt very badly or die?). For each of the 10 items, a score of “1” was given when the participant endorsed having experienced that specific type of violence. Then, a final score was calculated summing up scores across the 10 items, with higher scores on this scale reflecting a greater frequency of exposure to community violence. The final score was used as a continuous variable in analyses.

Statistical Analysis

As described elsewhere (Martins et al., 2015), three annual waves of data were collected across a wide age range (5–13 years old at Wave 1 and 8–17 years old at Wave 3) using an accelerated longitudinal design. We examined the association between Wave 1 child maltreatment and the four longitudinal sensation-seeking trajectories (Martins et al., 2015), with the three-step auxiliary variable in Mplus for GMMs (Asparouhov & Muthen, 2014). Within the GMM, a multinomial logistic regression was fit to test the association between trajectory and each dichotomous measures of maltreatment separately while adjusting for covariates (including age, site, sex, poverty, parental alcohol and drug abuse, parental antisocial disorder, parental psychiatric disorders, exposure to violence, and parental loss). To obtain sex-specific results, models were run stratified by sex but also a separate model including a Sex × Maltreatment interaction was fit to test whether there were statistically significant differences in associations by sex. All analyses incorporated sampling weights reflecting both the clustered sampling design and the population distribution. The GMM incorporated the sampling clusters, primary sampling units (PSUs), and strata and constrained all variance estimates to be positive. We further assessed if sociocultural context moderated the association between child maltreatment variables and sensation-seeking trajectories by including an interaction term between context and child maltreatment. All analyses were conducted in Mplus 7.3 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2012).

Results

Descriptive Findings

Descriptive analyses at Wave 1 showed that 54.4% of participants at Wave 1 were based in Puerto Rico, 48.5% were female, and 49.0% were 10 to 13 years of age; also, 31.2% were below the federal poverty level. In the sample from Puerto Rico and in the South Bronx, 48.6% and 48.2% were girls, respectively; also, 50.3% and 47.5% were 10 to 13 years of age, and 27.8% and 35.3% were below the federal poverty level, respectively.

Prevalence rates of maltreatment were significantly different between Puerto Rico and the South Bronx at Wave 1 (25.5% and 36.3%, respectively; p < .05). Prevalence for each type of maltreatment for Puerto Rico and the South Bronx was the following: 9.9% and 20.9% of the children reported exposure to verbal abuse; 14.4% and 18.5% to physical abuse; 3.9% and 5.3% to sexual abuse; and 11.2% and 10.8% to neglect, respectively.

Other adverse childhood experiences were also present in this sample. Across both sites, 9.7% lived with parents with drug problems, 7.3% lived with parents with alcohol problems, and 29.4% lived with parents with any psychological/emotional problems. Also, 15.3% were exposed to one to two violent events and 1.4% were exposed to three or more.

Main Findings

Table 1 shows the associations between child maltreatment subtypes (Wave 1) and sensation-seeking trajectories (across Waves 1–3) for boys and girls separately. Partially consistent with our hypothesis, we observed that sex interacted with physical abuse and neglect, such that girls exposed to these types of maltreatment at Wave 1 were more likely to belong to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory—physical abuse: adjusted odds ratio (AOR; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]) = 3.66 [1.07, 12.54]; neglect: AOR [95% CI] = 5.33 [1.35, 21.03]—than the normative class. Among girls, the associations between verbal and sexual abuse and elevated sensation seeking were not significant at 95% CI (sexual abuse: AOR [95% CI] = 3.58 [0.99, 14.26]; verbal abuse: AOR [95% CI] = 3.20 [0.99, 10.40]); however, the odds ratios were of medium effect size (Chen et al., 2010) and in the expected direction. Girls, but not boys, exposed to verbal abuse were less likely to belong to the low class (AOR [95% CI] = 0.33 [0.15, 0.75]).

Table 1.

Sex as a Moderator of the Association Between Child Maltreatment Variables and Sensation-Seeking Trajectories^a.

Variable	Normative (Girls, n = 443; Boys, n = 646)	Low (Girls, n = 573; Boys, n = 354)		Accelerated (Girls, n = 139; Boys, n = 160)		Elevated (Girls, n = 51; Boys, n = 123)
Variable	Normative (Girls, n = 443; Boys, n = 646)	AOR	p Value	AOR	p Value	AOR	p Value
Neglected—lifetime^b
Girls	Reference	1.23 (0.43, 3.55)	.702	1.42 (0.26, 7.64)	.684	5.33 (1.35, 21.03)	.017
Boys	Reference	0.79 (0.31, 2.05)	.630	0.69 (0.23, 2.09)	.516	0.61 (0.28, 1.35)	.222
Verbal abuse—lifetime
Girls	Reference	0.33 (0.15, 0.75)	.008	0.51 (0.15, 1.77)	.290	3.20 (0.99, 10.4)	.053
Boys	Reference	0.14 (0.01, 2.64)	.187	0.89 (0.34, 2.36)	.817	1.61 (0.83, 3.13)	.158
Physical abuse—lifetime
Girls	Reference	0.57 (0.27, 1.2)	.142	0.38 (0.05, 2.72)	.332	3.66 (1.07, 12.54)	.039
Boys	Reference	0.39 (0.16, 0.97)	.042	0.45 (0.18, 1.13)	.089	0.94 (0.44, 2.02)	.871
Sexual abuse—lifetime^b
Girls	Reference	1.01 (0.34, 2.98)	.984	0.78 (0.08, 7.68)	.830	3.58 (0.99, 14.26)	.071
Boys	Reference	0.38 (0.05, 2.88)	.350	1.24 (0.31, 5.03)	.759	0.2 (0.02, 1.83)	.155

Note. Fit statistics: AIC = 30,293.975; BIC = 30,427.827. AOR = adjusted odds ratio; AIC = Akaike information criterion; BIC = Bayesian information criterion.

Model-weighted and adjusted for sampling design and adjusted for the covariates: age, sex, site, poverty, parental alcohol and drug abuse, parental antisocial disorder, parental psychiatric disorders, exposure to violence, and parental loss.

The Sex × Child Maltreatment interaction term was significant (p < .05).

Bold values signifies 95% confidence intervals and p values for each of the values reported in the table.

For boys, there was no association between neglect, verbal abuse or sexual abuse, and sensation seeking, except that exposure to physical abuse was associated with a decreased likelihood of being in the low sensation-seeking class (AOR [95% CI] = 0.39 [0.16, 0.97]).

Examining the association between maltreatment and sensation seeking on both boys and girls, children exposed to verbal abuse were at increased risk of belonging to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory compared with the normative trajectory (AOR [95% CI] = 1.92 [1.07,3.44]). Children who experienced verbal abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.27 [0.12, 0.63]) and physical abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.46 [0.25, 0.84]) were less likely to belong to the low sensation-seeking class. In addition, participants exposed to physical abuse were less likely to belong to the accelerated trajectory (AOR [95% CI] = 0.43 [0.19, 0.97]) compared with the normative trajectory.

No significant interactions between sociocultural context (i.e., San Juan vs. South Bronx) and maltreatment subtype were found (p > .1).

Discussion

In a representative sample of Puerto Rican youth in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in the South Bronx of New York, we found that girls (but not boys) exposed to neglect or physical abuse were more likely to belong to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory (high risk class). In addition, girls exposed to verbal abuse and boys exposed to physical abuse were less likely to belong to the low sensation-seeking class (lower risk class). In the whole sample, exposure to verbal abuse was associated with membership to the elevated sensation-seeking class, and physical abuse was associated with a decreased likelihood of belonging to the low or accelerated trajectories, compared with the normative class. Differences between the results for boys and girls and the results for all children underline the importance of examining associations with childhood maltreatment subtypes separately in boys and girls.

Racial and ethnic minorities are often exposed to stressors, such as poverty and discrimination, that can influence mental health (Kiser & Black, 2005; Mistry et al., 2002; Murry et al., 2001). We examined the relationship between maltreatment and trajectories of sensation seeking in Puerto Rican youth, an understudied population with elevated risk factors, including high rates of maltreatment. This study examined participants in two contexts: in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where participants were part of the majority population, and in the South Bronx of New York, where participants were part of an ethnic minority group. This study design allowed us to ask if ethnic minority status was associated with the relationship between childhood maltreatment and sensation-seeking trajectories. While differences between sensation seeking were found between the two sites, no interactions between maltreatment type and sociocultural context were found, suggesting that maltreatment was similarly associated with sensation-seeking trajectories in the United States and in Puerto Rico.

Partially consistent with our hypotheses, results indicate that girls, but not boys, exposed to neglect and physical abuse were more likely to belong to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory. We anticipated that physical abuse would be associated with membership to the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory, based on research suggesting that physical abuse leads to more externalizing behaviors in girls (Lansford et al., 2010; Meng & D’Arcy, 2016). This result is also in line with a body of research suggesting that girls exposed to familial violence and physical abuse are more likely to develop conduct problems and antisocial behaviors than boys (Becker & McCloskey, 2002; Lansford et al., 2002).

Consistent with previous research showing a connection between sexual abuse and increased externalizing behaviors (Meng & D’Arcy, 2016; Molnar et al., 2001; Shin et al., 2010), we also hypothesized that sexual abuse would also be associated with the elevated sensation-seeking class. We did not find a significant association in the 95% CI. However, a small percentage of children endorsed sexual abuse (4.7%) in this sample. Therefore, it is possible that this study is underpowered to detect an association between sexual abuse and the elevated sensation-seeking trajectory. Finally, we found that neglect was also associated with membership to the elevated sensation-seeking class, suggesting that like some forms of abuse, neglect could lead to increases in externalizing behaviors. This is consistent with previous findings that, for girls who are juvenile offenders, neglect is associated with increased externalizing problems (van der Put et al., 2015).

It is possible that girls who experience physical abuse or neglect are more likely to change sensation-seeking trajectories than their male counterparts due to greater endocrinological reactivity to social stressors (Bangasser & Valentino, 2014; Hollanders et al., 2017). For example, a systematic review of hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity in children found evidence of a stronger cortisol response to social stress tests in girls compared with boys, in addition to a higher cortisol awakening response (Hollanders et al., 2017). Furthermore, sex-specific differences in daily cortisol levels have been found in maltreated children. Following maltreatment, downregulation of daily cortisol has been found in girls, whereas elevated levels have been found in boys (Doom et al., 2013). Genetic variation may account for some of the endocrinological differences in stress reactivity. Genetic variants of a single nucleotide polymorphism in a putative estrogen response element have been found to predict worse outcomes for women, but not men, after traumatic events (Ressler et al., 2011).

In addition to sex-specific differences in the effect of childhood maltreatment, there is evidence that maltreatment subtypes have differential associations with HPA axis reactivity. For example, evidence suggests that, following acute stress, physical abuse is associated with faster cortisol reactivity and emotional abuse is associated with delayed recovery of cortisol (Kuhlman et al., 2015). Furthermore, maltreatment subtypes and sex have been shown to interact in their relationship with trajectories of brain development (Teicher et al., 2018; Ugwu et al., 2015). Hippocampal volume is predicted by exposure to childhood abuse in women, but not in men, whereas in men, hippocampal volume is predicted by exposure to childhood neglect (Teicher et al., 2018).

Because sensation seeking and antisocial behaviors are related (Horvath & Zuckerman, 1993; Mann et al., 2017), it is possible that elevated sensation seeking could be a mechanism by which some types of child maltreatment contribute to increased risky behaviors, and ultimately to increased psychopathology. Given the relationship between higher levels of sensation seeking and negative outcomes such as increased substance use and antisocial behaviors (Charles et al., 2017; Leeman et al., 2014; Mann et al., 2017), identification of precursors to these negative outcomes could lead to novel avenues of risk prevention. Our results suggest that it may be beneficial to assess risk-taking behavior in girls with a history of maltreatment, particularly neglect and physical abuse, to determine if additional interventions are warranted. Furthermore, because these results suggest that maltreatment is associated with traits such as sensation seeking, individuals with increased risk may benefit from a personality-targeted substance prevention program (Conrod et al., 2013; Edalati & Conrod, 2018).

The current research recognizes the importance of diversity through the study design, which includes an understudied population, Puerto Rican youth, in contexts where they are part of the majority (San Juan) and where they are part of a minority group (South Bronx). Examining one Latinx subgroup in two contexts is important as research often examines Latinx populations as a single homogeneous group, not acknowledging the variability across Latinx subgroups or the variability of experiences within specific Latinx subgroups. This study allows for the examination of within-group variation across two contexts. We elucidated the relationship between child maltreatment and sensation seeking with research questions that probed the association between sex and minority status and our variables of interest. Our findings emphasize the need to examine the relationship between child maltreatment and outcomes separately in boys and girls and suggest that minority status may not influence the relationship between child maltreatment and sensation-seeking trajectories.

Limitations of the present study include that all measures were self- or parent-reported. Furthermore, neglect, physical abuse, and emotional abuse from individuals outside of the family were not methodically assessed and therefore are not contributing to our results. In addition, the analyses performed for this study do not consider the age at which maltreatment was experienced, or maltreatment severity, and therefore cannot answer questions related to the timing or intensity of maltreatment experiences. While we controlled for key covariates to isolate the contributions of child maltreatment on sensation seeking, it is possible that unmeasured covariates could still influence our results. For example, the presence of sensation-seeking peers was not assessed. Furthermore, because sensation seeking is shown to develop across childhood and into late adolescence, a wider window of data collection, including older adolescents, could provide more information regarding the relationship between maltreatment and the development of sensation seeking. Finally, while our measures of maltreatment preceded the trajectories of sensation seeking, causality cannot be established.

Future work could benefit from controlling for parental sensation-seeking and impulsivity traits, assessing the relationship between maltreatment and sensation seeking across a wider longitudinal window, and measuring peer-related factors such as the presence of sensation-seeking peers. Future work could also examine the association of multitype maltreatment and maltreatment severity on sensation-seeking trajectories. However, measuring sensation seeking prospectively, via classes of trajectories, remains a strength of this study, as this approach provides better evidence of the direction of the association than cross-sectional studies among adolescent or adult populations using retrospective measures. Given the literature demonstrating that the HPA axis responds to maltreatment differently in girls and boys, future studies could also examine the relationship between sex, maltreatment-related changes in HPA function, and the development of sensation seeking, as well as the differential influence of maltreatment subtypes on these relationships.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health: MH56401 (Bird); DA033172 (Duarte); HD060072 (Martins, Duarte, Canino); ODHL125761 (Suglia); OD023328 (Duarte, Canino, Monk, Posner); MH098374 (Alegria, Canino, Duarte); MH016434 (Veenstra-Vanderweele, Marsh).

ORCID iD

Tamara J. Sussman

Author Biographies

Tamara J. Sussman, PhD, is an assistant professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Her research examines the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, the development of the brain and cognitive control, and risk for psychopathology. She is interested in elucidating mechanisms by which early adversity can lead to negative outcomes.

Julian Santaella-Tenorio, MSc, Dr, PhD in epidemiology (Columbia University), is a professor at Universidad del Valle, Cali-Colombia. His research focuses on injury and violence prevention, substance use and related disorders among adolescents and adults, mental health, and policy impact on population health.

Cristiane S. Duarte, MPH, PhD, is the director of the Child Mental Health Disparities and Development Group, the Lambert Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), and codirector of the NewYork-Presbyterian Youth Anxiety Center. Her research uses state-of-the-art sampling, recruitment/retention, and culturally appropriate assessment methodologies to generate knowledge about diverse and understudied populations.

Melanie M. Wall, PhD, is the director of Mental Health Data Science in the psychiatry department of the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), where she oversees a team of biostatisticians collaborating on predominately National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research projects related to psychiatry. She has worked extensively with modeling complex multilevel and multimodal data on a wide array of psychosocial public health and psychiatric research questions in both clinical studies and large epidemiologic studies.

Maria Ramos-Olazagasti, PhD, is an assistant professor at Columbia University and Senior Research Scientist at Child Trends. She studies the ways social position (or minority status) and social context influence the well-being of Latino families and youth. The overarching goal of her research is to understand the social mechanisms that lead to socioeconomic and mental health disparities in Latinos.

Shakira F. Suglia, MS, ScD, is an associate professor of epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Her research examines the impact of social determinants on health across the life course, focusing on childhood exposures to violence, housing, and neighborhood factors.

Glorisa Canino, PhD, is the Director of the Behavioral Sciences Research Institute at the School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico. She is a leading researcher in the areas of cross-cultural child and adult psychiatric epidemiology, pediatric asthma, health care disparities, service utilization patterns, and barriers to care faced by Latino children and adults.

Hector Bird, MD, is a professor emeritus of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. He has been the principal investigator of a number of large National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded research studies, including an island-wide epidemiologic survey of mental disorders in children in Puerto Rico, a collaborative study to develop methodologies for child epidemiologic surveys (the Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders Study), and the Boricua Youth Study.

Silvia S. Martins, MD, PhD, is the Director of the Substance Use Epidemiology Unit of the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University. Her research focuses on consequences of medical and recreational marijuana laws, the synergistic effects of opioid and marijuana policies on opioid-related harm, and gambling and impulsive behaviors among minority adolescents, in the United States, and recreational marijuana laws in Uruguay.

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