Rachel Langevin

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Associate Professor at McGill University

Objectives: Child maltreatment is a serious problem worldwide associated with numerous developmental and psychological problems that can impede children's short and long-term functioning. The negative effects of maltreatment may put children on a trajectory where they are likely to experience later abuse and even abuse their own children. While stu...

Child maltreatment tends to show intergenerational continuity. However, a significant proportion of maltreated parents break these cycles. Since several studies have investigated risk and protective factors associated with the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment over the past decades, and no systematic review of the literature is ava...

The intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment (CM) is a growing public health concern. Identifying modifiable risk and protective factors involved in these cycles is crucial. A previous scoping review synthesized the literature on psychosocial factors associated with intergenerational CM up to 2018. Since then, a sizable number of studies...

Following the 1st Conference of the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress, the consortium committed to systematically integrating sex and gender considerations in their endeavours, which aligns with the European Journal of Psychotraumatology's Gender Policy. This initiative is vital for understanding trauma's complex impacts, but also presents s...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread in many African countries. Evidence, mainly from Western countries, shows that exposure to IPV in childhood is an important risk factor for experiences of IPV in adulthood. However, to date, no systematic review has synthesized the evidence on this association for individuals living in Africa, which is...

Background: Officially reported and self-reported measures of child maltreatment show poor agreement and may differentially predict psychosocial problems in adulthood. However, research remains primarily based on retrospective self-reports, warranting examination of the validity of prospective assessments of maltreatment. Objective: To assess the c...

Child sexual abuse (CSA) can have lasting negative impacts on one's sense of safety and trust, ultimately affecting the quality of relationships, and increasing the likelihood of future victimization experiences. The present study provides a qualitative description of the themes that were generated through interviews conducted with 23 mothers who e...

Background: Parents’ experiences of IPV are associated with an increased risk for their children to experience IPV. However, the factors that may contribute to intergenerational IPV, particularly between adult mothers and daughters, are still poorly understood. To fill this gap in the literature, this preliminary study examines the moderating role...

Background: Child maltreatment (CM; sexual and physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, neglect, and exposure to intimate partner violence) is a prevalent and harmful public health problem, with severe consequences for children's physical, psychological, and social development. CM exposure has been found to recur in families, indicating intergenerat...

Childhood maltreatment is linked with later depressive symptoms, but not every maltreated child will experience symptoms later in life. Therefore, we investigate whether genetic predisposition for depression (i.e., polygenic score for depression, PGS DEP ) modifies the association between maltreatment and depressive symptoms, while accounting for d...

Child maltreatment (CM) poses significant risks to victims, resulting in enduring physical, psychological, and developmental consequences. Adult survivors of CM seem especially vulnerable to perinatal complications. However, existing research on perinatal outcomes presents mixed results and relies heavily on self-reported data, which may not align...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) can have detrimental consequences, including later IPV victimization for children exposed to IPV. Purpose This study, using a dyadic design, investigates the mediating role of emerging adults’ childhood exposure to IPV in the association between their mothers’ childhood exposure to IPV and their own experience of ph...

Objectifs. La présente étude s’inscrit dans une démarche de transfert des connaissances intégré avec un organisme communautaire offrant divers services aux mères de moins de 25 ans et à leurs jeunes enfants. L’objectif global était d’améliorer l’engagement des jeunes mères envers les services. Après une consultation ayant mis en lumière que plusieu...

Cet article vise à contribuer à la littérature florissante sur les approches sensibles au trauma à l’aide d’une recension systématique des écrits à méthodes mixtes portant sur les retombées de la mise en oeuvre des approches sensibles au trauma sur l’approche de soins (c.-à-d., les connaissances, les attitudes, les pratiques et le bien-être) des pr...

Purpose: Adults who have been maltreated as children are at risk for a variety of adverse sequalae that can have a negative impact on parents’ emotion-related socialization behaviours (ERSBs) and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of emotion regulation difficulties. However, various supports may reduce unsupportive behaviours. Informe...

Empirical studies reveal that interpersonal violence victimization is a highly prevalent phenomena in youth and is associated with a host of difficulties, including mental, physical, and behavioral issues. Sleep, a developmentally fundamental process, is implicated in these unfavorable effects. Despite this, little is known about the interplay betw...

Despite the well-documented link between child maltreatment (CM) and mental health, evidence suggests substantial variability in the post-traumatic sequelae of CM across cultures. The perceived acceptability of CM in one’s community might moderate the association between CM and mental health, but little research has been conducted on it so far. Thi...

Background: Post-traumatic growth (PTG) and resilience, regarded as positive psychological change following a traumatic experience, are under-researched across cultures in people exposed to child maltreatment (CM). Objective: We investigated how experiences and the perceived acceptability of CM are related to resilience and PTG in countries with di...

Study objectives: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with negative consequences on both physical and mental health. It has been found to influence child and adolescent sleep, which is an important developmental factor, which also influences mental and physical health. However, the literature examining this topic is plagued by methodological li...

Background: Acceptable parental behaviors and practices toward a child vary across countries and may impact the risk of exposure to maltreatment. Conversely, prior experiences of maltreatment as a child may influence the acceptability of child maltreatment (CM) behaviors. Objective: This exploratory study examined the association between CM expe...

Background Both prospective and retrospective measures of child maltreatment predict mental and physical health problems, despite their weak concordance. Research remains largely based on retrospective reports spanning the entire childhood due to a scarcity of prospectively completed measures targeting maltreatment specifically. Objective We devel...

Cyber-dating violence (cyber-DV) is a prevalent issue among adolescent girls that can have negative consequences including post-traumatic stress symptoms and suicidal ideations and attempts. In the aim to reduce its prevalence and impacts, researchers are increasingly relying on the identification of risk and protective factors associated with cybe...

We investigated whether the impact of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) on trauma-related symptoms changes across the transitional adult lifespan (i.e., 16-100 years old) and if this association differs for self-reported COVID-19-related PTEs compared to other PTEs. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 7,034 participants from 88...

Objective: To foster resilience through reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in pregnant mothers with child maltreatment (CM) histories, it is important to understand factors impacting their well-being. This study explored whether CM predicted the severity of PTSD symptoms and symptom clusters during pregnancy and change in sympto...

Background: Both prospective and retrospective measures of child maltreatment predict mental health problems, despite their weak concordance. Research remains largely based on retrospective reports spanning the entire childhood due to a scarcity of prospectively completed questionnaires targeting maltreatment specifically. Objective: We developed a...

Purpose Child maltreatment (CM) is a serious public health problem that can have severe repercussions, including negatively affecting the interpersonal functioning of those impacted. Throughout development, individuals with CM histories have been found to be at greater risk of difficulties in their relationships and having less social support than...

Child maltreatment (CM) in one generation can predict CM in the next generation, a concept known as intergenerational continuity. Yet, the form taken by the intergenerational continuity of CM remains unclear and fathers are mostly absent from this literature. This longitudinal study aimed to document patterns of intergenerational continuity of subs...

Background: Emotion regulation (ER) and emotion recognition (ERC) deficits are frequently observed in the sequelae of child maltreatment (CM). Despite a wealth of research on emotional functioning, these emotional processes are often presented as independent but related functions. As such, there is currently no theoretical framework on how differe...

Introduction: Child sexual abuse remains a worldwide concern with devastating consequences on an individual's life. This longitudinal study investigates the associations between child sexual abuse (official reports versus retrospective self-reports) and subgroups by perpetrator identity (intrafamilial and extrafamilial), severity (penetration/atte...

Sexual abuse trauma can have long-term implications for individuals in terms of psychological functioning, relationships, and socio-environmental circumstances, all of which are elements that could explain the CSA intergenerational continuity phenomenon. There are few empirical studies drawing comparisons between families to identify factors associ...

Intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment (CM) is a well-documented phenomenon of concern; however, its effects on the child’s level of exposure to CM, as well as subsequent trauma exposure and adult functioning remain undocumented. The present study aimed to further explore the intergenerational effects of CM by comparing emerging adults...

This integrative review aimed to synthesize both qualitative and quantitative research on the (re)experiencing of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the perinatal period for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Whittemore and Knafl's framework, which includes problem identification, literature review, data evaluation, data ana...

Objectives: This prospective longitudinal study aimed to explore the role of family relationships (romantic satisfaction and mother-infant bonding) and psychological distress in the associations between four child maltreatment (CM) subtypes (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, neglect) and early child abuse potential in young mothers. Methods: A...

Objective: Child maltreatment is often studied as a general category or individually as a subtype, but maltreatment subtypes are rarely studied simultaneously. Despite a breadth of research in the effects of child maltreatment on emotional competence, discrepant findings emerge when child maltreatment subtypes are explored. The present study aims t...

Background Maternal mental health problems and poor parenting are thought to account for the intergenerational transmission of poor outcomes to offspring of mothers who have experienced child maltreatment. Objective Given that emotion regulation (ER) difficulties have been linked to adult psychopathology and maladaptive parenting, the goal of the...

Introduction Childhood maltreatment is associated with pregnancy complications. This study aimed to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the strength of the associations between maternal histories of childhood maltreatment and the risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight, and gestational diabetes. Methods Subject Headings and keyw...

Interpersonal revictimization, through sexual violence and psychological or physical dating violence, is one of the many consequences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study examined how childhood maltreatment, sociodemographic characteristics, mental health, relational factors, and community factors are associated with 1) sexual revictimizatio...

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is linked to impairments in various domains of social functioning. Here, we argue that it is critical to identify factors that underlie impaired social functioning as well as processes that mediate the beneficial health effects of positive relationships in individuals exposed to CM. Key research recommendations are prese...

Childhood sexual abuse has pervasive effects on well-being and psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents, including negative impacts on sleep. This study aimed to systematically review and assess the literature documenting associations between childhood sexual abuse and sleep in minors (0-18 years old) and provide recommendations for fut...

Maltreatment among school-aged children is associated with negative impacts on development and can contribute to the onset of psychological difficulties, including early depressive symptoms. Maltreatment can have devasting consequences, thus it is important to better understand the mechanisms contributing to children’s psychological outcomes. Purpo...

Objective: Child maltreatment is a prevalent problem, and a lot remains unknown regarding the prevalence and mechanisms involved in its intergenerational continuity. The present study examines the sequential role of maternal emotional dysregulation and mother-to-child attachment in the intergenerational continuity of specific maltreatment types (Ob...

Importance: Individuals who have been sexually abused are at a greater risk for poor health, but associations with economic outcomes in mid-life have been overlooked. Objectives: We investigated associations between child sexual abuse (≤18 years) and economic outcomes at 33-37 years, while considering type of report (official/retrospective) and cha...

Objective This study explored the pathway underlying the relationships between child maltreatment (CM) subtypes (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect) and factors associated with a heightened risk of pregnancy complications by examining post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as a potential mediator. Methods A sample of 9...

Adults who have experienced child maltreatment report problems with emotion regulation (ER) and parenting difficulties, which have been associated with maladaptation in the next generation. However, parental emotion socialization is understudied in survivors of child maltreatment. The aim of the present study was to examine whether childhood polyvi...

This study examined the transactional effects of parental physical and verbal aggression and children’s externalizing (EP) and internalizing problems (IP) from early school age to adolescence in lower-income community sample using a multi-informant perspective. Mother-child dyads (n = 175) from urban low socioeconomic backgrounds that are part of t...

Depuis 2017, de nombreuses personnes victimes de violences à caractère sexuel ont pris la parole publiquement dans le cadre de mouvements sur les réseaux sociaux comme #MeToo et Dis Son Nom. Ces mouvements ont permis de libérer la parole des survivant·e·s et d'attirer l'attention sur ce phénomène hautement prévalent, mais la plupart du temps tenu d...

In individuals with a history of child maltreatment (CM), impairments in many domains of social functioning are well-documented but poorly understood. We summarize evidence for the detrimental effects of CM on social functioning and present key research recommendations focused on: 1. Identifying alterations in specific inter- and intra- personal pr...

Background Child sexual abuse (CSA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) have been associated with negative consequences for adult victims and their children including a risk of revictimization and intergenerational continuity. Objectives The aim of this study was to document correlates of intergenerational cumulative trauma profiles in mother-chil...

Background An association between child sexual abuse (CSA) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been documented. However, the temporal relationship between these problems and the roles of trauma-related symptoms or other forms of maltreatment remain unclear. This review aims to synthesize available research on CSA and ADHD, asses...

Background: The mental health impact of the COVID-19 crisis may differ from previously studied stressful events in terms of psychological reactions, specific risk factors, and symptom severity across geographic regions worldwide. Objective: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on a wide range of mental health symptoms, to identify relevant risk factors...

ABSTRACT Background: The mental health impact of the COVID-19 crisis may differ from previously studied stressful events in terms of psychological reactions, specific risk factors, and symptom severity across geographic regions worldwide.Objective: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on a wide range of mental health symptoms, to identify relevant risk...

Les enfants d’âge préscolaire constituent une proportion non négligeable des mineurs victimes d’agression sexuelle (AS), soit près de 30% (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Par ailleurs, ces jeunes victimes sont très peu représentées dans les études documentant les conséquences de l’AS. Pour pallier cette importante lacune, nous av...

The effects of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been found to surpass generations as maternal history of CSA is associated with increased difficulties in sexually abused children. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this association. The present study aimed to test maternal mental health symptoms including psychological distress,...

Objectives: Adults with a history of childhood maltreatment report problems with emotion regulation (ER) and parenting, which can contribute to maladaptive outcomes in offspring. The following narrative review consists of a theoretical and empirical synthesis of the literature examining child maltreatment, emotion regulation, and parenting, with an...

Background Despite burgeoning interest in the phenomenon of intergenerational continuity, literature concerning risk and protective factors in the context of child sexual abuse (CSA) is still underdeveloped. Objective Since the identification of such risk and protective factors is essential in order to break these negative cycles, the present stud...

Background Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a prevalent social problem associated with a plethora of difficulties in preschool children. Young victims are likely to show dissociation symptoms that may significantly impede their adaptation. Yet, mechanisms linking CSA with later dissociative symptoms remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to ex...

Child sexual abuse (CSA) during the preschool period can seriously undermine children’s ability to develop emotional competency. Narrative tasks, such as the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB), are particularly adapted to gain a better understanding of young children’s self-regulation processes. To explore the emotion regulation competencies of se...

Parents who have experienced multiple forms of child maltreatment may be more likely to engage in unsupportive emotion socialization practices in response to anger, which in turn, could adversely impact their child’s emotion regulation. These targeted parents may benefit from interventions aimed at bolstering their own emotion regulation skills, wh...

Objective The objective this study was to investigate the relative contributions of gender, common mental health symptoms, and experiences of interpersonal violence to the presence of sleep disturbances in Youth in Care under Child Welfare Society admitted to residential facilities. Methods A sample of 315 teenagers (14-18 years old) completed a s...

According to the developmental psychopathology framework, adverse childhood experiences, including child sexual abuse (CSA), may alter the course of normal development in children. Attachment security has been identified as a protective factor against psychopathology and may thus play a critical role in predicting victims’ adaptation. The main obje...

Background: Child sexual abuse is associated with a plethora of devastating repercussions. A significant number of sexually abused children are likely to experience other forms of maltreatment that can seriously affect their emotion regulation abilities and impede on their development. The aim of the study was to test emotion regulation and dissoc...

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to explore sleep problems in sexually abused preschoolers over a year. Methods: The sample consisted of 224 abused children and 83 nonabused children aged 3 to 6 years old at enrolment into the study (T1), and 85 abused children and 73 nonabused children at the second evaluation, approximately 1 year lat...

Objectives: While protective factors associated with resilience have been well- documented (e.g., initiative, self-regulation, attachment), less is known about their comparative levels in children exposed and not exposed to trauma. Given the relevance of examining this issue to enhance our understanding of mechanisms underlying resilience, the obje...

Capsule de recherche - Équipe de recherche FRQ-SC – Violence sexuelle et santé (ÉVISSA)

Capsule de recherche - Équipe de recherche FRQ-SC – Violence sexuelle et santé (ÉVISSA)

Capsule de recherche - Équipe de recherche FRQ-SC – Violence sexuelle et santé (ÉVISSA)

Capsule de recherche - Équipe de recherche FRQ-SC – Violence sexuelle et santé (ÉVISSA)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the evolution of emotion regulation competencies in sexually abused preschoolers. Children's emotion regulation abilities and their emotional lability and negativity were assessed shortly after disclosure of sexual abuse and one year later, and compared to those of non-abused children. A sample of 47...

Objectives: While protective factors associated with resilience have been well-documented (e.g., initiative, self-regulation, attachment), less is known about their comparative levels in children exposed and not exposed to trauma. Given the relevance of examining this issue to enhance our understanding of mechanisms underlying resilience, the objec...

Objective: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a host of deleterious impacts, yet little is known on the short-term correlates in children. This study aimed to investigate the association between dissociation and sleep problems in a sample of preschool-aged sexual abuse victims, while controlling for potentially confounding variables, incl...

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with emotion regulation deficits in childhood. Parents play a crucial role in the development of emotion regulation in their children, especially at younger ages. Close to 50% of mothers of sexually abused children report having been sexually victimized themselves as children. They are consequently at risk of...

Background: Sexually abused children present a host of psychological difficulties, including dissociation and post-traumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms. Negative repercussions associated with sexual abuse may interfere with children’s ability to interact competently with their peers, and might put them at risk for peer victimization. The aims of the st...

BACKGROUND Child sexual abuse (SA) is associated with emotional and behavioral difficulties in children such as emotion regulation (ER) deficits. Close to 50% of mothers of SA children report having themselves been sexually victimized as children, and are at risk of experiencing significant distress that could interfere with their ability to provid...

Emotion regulation is closely related to mental health in children and adults. Low emotion regulation competencies have been found in school-aged sexually abused girls. The aim of the present study was to investigate emotion regulation competencies in sexually abused preschool girls and boys using a multi-informant approach. Emotion regulation was...

Maltreated children show poor emotion regulation competencies compared to non-maltreated children. Emotion regulation has been found to mediate the association between maltreatment and behavior problems in children. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships among child sexual abuse (CSA), emotion regulation (ER), and internalize...

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to explore the diversity of profiles in sexually abused preschoolers and identify possible protective factors associated with individual differences in outcomes. Methods: A sample of 68 sexually abused children (ages 3½ – 6 ½ years old) and a comparison group of 78 children participated in the study. Pa...

BACKGROUND Children experiencing sexual abuse (SA) are found to display significant internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems compared to non-abused children, In addition, victims of sexual abuse also appear at greater risk of dissociative symptoms than non-maltreated children. Adult studies have shown a link between dissociation and sleep...

Child sexual abuse is a prevalent social problem known to have a deleterious impact on the mental health. While sexual abuse may affect preschool children, there is a lack of knowledge regarding its short-term correlates, namely regarding internalized symptomatology due to the few available self-report measures. This study aims to (a) contrast self...

PRESS Preschool Symptom Self-Report

The present study addresses the association of a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in mothers and externalized and internalized behaviours in preschool children following sexual abuse. A total number of 115 mother-child dyads were evaluated following abuse disclosure by the child. Mothers and daycare workers or kindergarten teachers of the ch...