title: The different faces of impulsivity as links between childhood maltreatment and young adult crime.
abstract: Crime is a major public health and safety threat. Many studies have suggested that early exposure to child maltreatment increases an individual's risk for persistent serious crime in adulthood. Despite these findings about the connection between child maltreatment and criminal behavior, there is a paucity of empirically-based knowledge about the processes or pathways that link child maltreatment to later involvement in crime. Using a community sample of 337 young adults (ages 18-25) in a U.S. metropolitan area, the present study examined the role of various facets of impulsivity in linking child maltreatment to crime. A series of factor analyses identified three types of crime including property crime, violent crime, and fraud. Structural equation modelings were conducted to examine the associations among childhood maltreatment, four facets of impulsivity, and criminal behavior, controlling for sociodemographic information, family income and psychological symptoms. The present study found that child emotional abuse was indirectly related to property crime and fraud through urgency while a lack of premeditation mediates the relationship between child neglect and property crime. Child physical abuse was directly related to all three types of crime. Personality traits of urgency and lack of premeditation may play a significant role in the maltreatment-crime link. Preventive interventions targeting impulsivity traits such as urgency and a lack of premeditation might have promising impacts in curbing criminal behavior among maltreatment victims.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Social Work, 1000 Floyd Avenue, Third Floor Richmond, VA 23284, United States; Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 203 East Cary Street, Suite 202, Richmond, VA 23219, United States. Electronic address: sshin@vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Sunny H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Criminal Justice Department, 923 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284, United States.
authors.forename: Amy K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Criminal Justice Department, 923 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284, United States.
authors.forename: Nancy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Criminal Justice Department, 923 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284, United States.
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McDougle
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Social Work, 1000 Floyd Avenue, Third Floor Richmond, VA 23284, United States.
authors.forename: Lauren Peasley
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Groves
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003415:Crime; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical
keywords: Child abuse; Child maltreatment; Child neglect; Crime; Criminal behavior; Impulsivity