Child maltreatment and depressive symptomatology among adolescents in out-of-home care: The mediating role of self-esteem

Compared with the general population, adolescents in out-of-home care are at greater risk of having higher rates of mental health problems including depressive symptomatology. Although child maltreatment is the main reason for entering the out-of-home care system, only a few studies explored the association between child maltreatment and depressive symptomatology among youth in out-of-home care. In addition, although self-esteem may be a potential mediator linking child maltreatment and depressive symptomatology, this has not yet been evaluated with adolescents in out-of-home care. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of self-esteem as a mediator in the association between different types of child maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse) and depressive symptomatology among a sample of adolescents in out-of-home care. The sample consisted of 404 (226 males, 178 females) adolescents derived from the Mental Health Service Use of Youth Leaving Fo