The Mediating Effect of School Engagement in the Relationship between Youth Maltreatment and Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

Research consistently demonstrates that youths who experience maltreatment are at greater risk for committing delinquent behavior. Yet little is known about how to disrupt this maltreatment–delinquency relationship. Life course theory suggests that youths who bond with prosocial individuals and traditional institutions subscribe to prosocial norms that consequently prohibit deviant behavior. This study examines whether a prosocial bond—school engagement—helps to explain the link between maltreatment and delinquency. Using a national sample of youths involved in the child welfare system (N = 1,179), this study uses latent growth curve modeling to investigate the mediating effects of school engagement in the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency. Findings indicate that youths' level of school engagement does explain the effects of maltreatment on initial delinquency such that youths at greater risk of maltreatment are more disengaged at school and youths less engaged at school reported higher rates of delinquency. Practical strategies to engage maltreated youths in school—including interventions at the individual, classroom, and school level—are proposed.