The self-image disparity of maltreated adolescents /

The goal of this study was to investigate the real self-image, ideal self-image, and self-image disparity of maltreated adolescents, both acting-out and nonacting-out, as compared to nonmaltreated adolescents. Participants included 58 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 with groups approximately matched for age, IQ, and mental age. The maltreated group consisted of children who had been neglected, physically abused, and/or psychologically abused. Children in both maltreated and nonmaltreated groups were classified as acting-out or nonacting-out based on reports of truancy, substance abuse, disrespect for authority, violent outbursts, and trouble within the legal system. The primary findings of the study were that maltreated as compared to nonmaltreated individuals displayed lower real self-images and larger self-image disparities. However, the lowest real self-image scores were displayed by the acting-out adolescents regardless of their maltreatment status. In a comparison between the acting-out maltreated adolescents and the acting-out nonmaltreated adolescents, the real self-images were comparable, suggesting that the experience of maltreatment does not exacerbate the negative effect of behavioural difficulty. In addition, the acting-out maltreated children displayed higher ideal self-images than the acting-out nonmaltreated children. Both experiences of maltreatment and acting-out behaviours appear to be related to negative effects of self-image in adolescents. This highlights the importance of investigating the influence of experiential factors on self-system processing