(PS6-40) Does Self-blame About the Trauma Moderate the Relation Between Social Support and Depression?

One in seven children in the United States experienced child abuse and neglect in 2021 (CDC, 2022).  Child maltreatment has been associated with depression and negative interpersonal outcomes, such as poor peer relationships (Graham et al., 2009; Vibhakar et al., 2019). Low social support is known to be a risk factor for post-trauma depression (Claxton et al., 2021).  Yet, much is unknown about high-stress conditions under which perceived social support is less able to mitigate depressive symptoms (Rueger et al., 2016). With regard to traumatized youth, cognitive processes (e.g., appraisals, blame attributions) are related to symptomatology (Trickey et al., 2012). Among these, self-blame, in particular, is associated with poor interpersonal relations (Sharma-Patel et al., 2014), as well as high levels of depressive symptoms (Feiring & Clealand, 2007). Attributing self-responsibility for the traumatic event may impede youth’s ability to form strong connections with peers, especially when coupled with depressive symptoms. This poster aims to examine the moderating role of self-blame in the association between perceived peer relationships and depressive symptoms at the start of trauma-focused treatment.

Participants are drawn from an ongoing study of TF-CBT provided free-of-charge at an urban mental health clinic for maltreated racially- and ethnically-diverse youth (ages 4-17) and their caregivers. Participants complete pre-, mid-, and post-treatment assessments throughout the course of TF-CBT. Peer social support and depression was assessed using the Behavior Assessment System for Children, third edition, Self Report of Personality (BASC-3-SRP; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). The BASC-3-SRP-Interpersonal Relations subscale assesses “the perception of having good social relationships and friendships with peers” and the BASC-3-SRP-Depression measures “feelings of unhappiness, sadness, and dejection”(Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004, p. 8). PERceptions of Children Exposed to Interpersonal Violence (PERCEIVE; Brown, 2000) Self Blame subscale is used to assess youths’ attributions of blame following interpersonal trauma.

To examine self-blame as a moderator, we conducted a linear regression with the following blocks: 1) Age, 2) BASC-3-SRP-Interpersonal Relations, 3) PERCEIVE-Self-Blame, 4) Interpersonal Relations-by-Self-Blame. After controlling for Age, Interpersonal Relations-by-Self-Blame was a significant moderator of the relationship between interpersonal relations and symptoms of depression , F(1, 297) = 21.302, p < .001.Results suggest that attributions of self-blame may not allow youth to fully draw on the benefits of peer social support when presenting with depressive symptomatology. Further clinical implications and directions will be discussed.