Participants were asked if they had experienced nine traumatic events and, if so, the age they first occurred. For the current study, we selected three events consistent with childhood maltreatment: physical abuse (`Have you ever been physically abused?'), sexual abuse or molestation (`Have you ever been sexually abused or molested?'), and serious neglect (`Were you ever seriously neglected as a child?'). This operationalization of childhood maltreatment (combining physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) is frequently used in maltreatment research (Ireland & Widom, 1994; Schulz-Heik et al. 2009; Topitzes et al. 2009; Zielinski, 2009). Consistent with many prior studies of childhood maltreatment, we included childhood maltreatment if it occurred prior to age 15 years (e.g. Gibb et al. 2001; Dervic et al. 2006; Showers et al. 2006).
