(PS3-92) The Role of Child Maltreatment and Teenage Dating Violence on Mental Health Among Latine Adolescents

Latine adolescents face an elevated risk of teenage dating violence (TDV), with nearly 20% reporting some form of involvement in TDV victimization and perpetration (Sabina et al., 2016). Notably, although TDV involvement among the general population is linked to adverse mental health (MH) outcomes, particularly victimization relative to perpetration, (CDC, 2024; Mozley et al., 2019), its effects on internalizing (e.g., anxiety and depression) and externalizing (e.g., hostility) MH difficulties remain understudied among Latine youth. Importantly, in order to elucidate the distinct roles of TDV victimization and perpetration on the MH outcomes of Latine adolescents, it is crucial to account for exposure to child maltreatment (CM), a well-known risk factor for negative MH outcomes with high prevalence among this population (Alzante & Rosenthal, 2009; Luft et al., 2022). Aligning with the polyvictimization stress theory (Finkelhor et al., 2007), which posits that multiple exposures to victimization may amplify MH issues, it is also pertinent to examine the putative cumulative impact of CM and TDV victimization on the MH symptoms of Latine youth. According to perpetration trauma theory (McNair, 2002), which proposes that harming others can be traumatic, TDV perpetration may also be interpreted as a victimization experience and together with exposure to CM may have a cumulative effect on MH difficulties among Latine youth. The current study set out to answer these questions by leveraging a national dataset of Latine adolescents (N=706) and examining whether TDV victimization and perpetration were related to anxiety, depression, and hostility among Latine youth above and beyond the impact of CM. This study also aimed to examine the interactive effects of CM and TDV victimization, and CM and TDV perpetration on Latine youths’ MH outcomes. Results from hierarchical linear regressions showed that TDV victimization was related to anxiety (B = 4.25, p < .001) and depression (B = 4.15, p < .001) above and beyond the significant effects of CM (Bs = 3.61-4.50, ps < .001), whereas TDV perpetration was not (ps = .061-.483). Interestingly, the interaction effects were not significantly related to anxiety or depression. In contrast, TDV victimization and perpetration were associated with hostility (Bs = 4.00-4.47, ps < .001) above and beyond the impact of CM (B = 5.93, p < .001), and the interaction between CM and TDV perpetration was significant (B = -.47, p = .014). The interaction demonstrated that Latine youth exposed to CM had similar levels of hostility regardless of TDV perpetration. However, among youth without CM, TDV perpetrators had higher levels of hostility than non-perpetrators. These findings underscore the impact of TDV victimization on internalizing and externalizing problems and TDV perpetration on externalizing symptoms among Latine adolescents. These results also highlight the need to center research, interventions, and prevention efforts in this population on trauma-informed and other victimization-related perspectives that attend to TDV experiences.