Childhood Maltreatment, Romantic Relationship Dysfunction, and Expressive Language in Adolescence

Maltreated adolescents are more likely to experience romantic relationship dysfunction than their non-maltreated peers. We investigated whether the words maltreated adolescents used with their romantic partners reflected this relation. For all group comparisons, p > .05. Accordingly, maltreated adolescents may struggle to discuss maladaptive behaviors with their romantic partners.