Housing matters: the moderating role of housing stability on the association between maltreatment and mental health outcomes for adolescents

Child maltreatment is a pervasive public health crisis. Efforts to identify modifiable structural factors that may buffer its harmful consequences and promote healthy development are needed. The present study contributes to this gap by examining whether housing stability (frequency of residential moves) buffers the impact of child maltreatment on adolescents’ mental health. Participants included 352 adolescents (Mage = 18.25, SDage = 1.47; 50.9% Male; 40.3% Black) from a longitudinal study. Adolescents self-reported their history of child maltreatment, housing stability, and current internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Child maltreatment was positively associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms during adolescence. High levels of housing stability buffered the association between child maltreatment and externalizing symptoms. However, this protective effect was only present for adolescents who had experienced fewer types of maltreatment. Findings support work seeking to reduce residential moves among maltreated youth and public programs that can increase access to stable, affordable housing. However, more work is needed to elucidate other modifiable structural mechanisms that may be leveraged to foster the wellbeing of adolescents at the highest risk for child maltreatment exposure and poor mental health outcomes.