97. Patterns of dating violence moderate the effect of child maltreatment on suicide risk among socioeconomically disadvantaged depressed minority adolescents

Childhood maltreatment and adolescent dating violence (ADV) are highly comorbid, with both linked to depression and suicide risk for adolescents. Despite the high prevalence of ADV, research has only now begun to investigate how patterns of ADV relate to psychopathology outcomes. This study aims to 1): identify distinct patterns of ADV and 2): investigate the moderating effect of these ADV patterns on maltreatment’s association with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviors for depressed adolescents with and without a maltreatment history. Participants for the current study were racially-diverse, low-income adolescent girls (N=199) drawn from a larger randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A). Utilizing a person-centered analytic approach, we found support for a 3-class model of ADV: adolescent girls without ADV exposure, those in romantic relationships with mutual verbal violence, and those in romantic relationships with multiple and more severe forms of ADV. Results further indicated that the effect of child maltreatment on suicidal ideation depends on the pattern of ADV involvement. The moderating effect of ADV typology on the relationship between maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury was also marginally significant. This study, to our knowledge, is the first to examine adolescent dating violence profiles as a moderator of the effect of maltreatment on depression and suicide risk factors and has important policy and preventive implications, particularly for maltreated, depressed adolescent girls.