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Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness as Mediators of the Effects of Cumulative Childhood Victimization Clusters on Adolescent Mothers’ Depression Symptoms

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Abstract

This study examines the relationships between cumulative victimization that began during childhood (witnessing intimate partner violence [IPV], physical abuse by a caregiver, and sexual victimization), adolescent IPV victimization, homelessness, and depression symptoms within a sample of 206 urban adolescent mothers. We used cluster analysis to identify five profiles of cumulative childhood victimization, and explored the extent to which adolescent IPV victimization and homelessness mediated the relationships between these clusters and participants’ current depression symptoms. Overall, we found that a significant portion of the effect of cumulative childhood victimization on current depression was explained by IPV victimization and homelessness, indicating that both are important mediators of childhood violence exposure within this high-risk sample of young women.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Road, Baker Hall, Room 254, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Angie C. Kennedy

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Deborah Bybee

  3. Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Megan R. Greeson

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  1. Angie C. Kennedy
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  2. Deborah Bybee
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  3. Megan R. Greeson
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Correspondence to Angie C. Kennedy.

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Kennedy, A.C., Bybee, D. & Greeson, M.R. Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness as Mediators of the Effects of Cumulative Childhood Victimization Clusters on Adolescent Mothers’ Depression Symptoms. J Fam Viol 30, 579–590 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9689-7

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