This study examines to what extent peer relationships mitigate the effects of emotional maltreatment on self-esteem among adolescents who remained with their parents after a child maltreatment investigation. Its second aim is to explore how gender, race, and ethnicity moderate the association between peer relationships and self-esteem. The study sample consists of adolescents between 11 and 17 living with a biological parent after the initial CPS investigation from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II. The analysis is limited to the cases with valid responses on youth-reported emotional maltreatment, negative self-esteem, and peer relationships at Wave 2 and demographic data and child welfare involvement in Wave 1, yielding 393 adolescents. Findings confirm the protective effects of peer relationships and the adverse effects of emotional maltreatment on self-esteem. The impact of peer relationships is significantly more robust among female and Hispanic adolescents. Implications for practice include peer-based interventions and preventive services.

本研究探讨了在儿童虐待调查后仍与父母在一起的青少年中，同伴关系在多大程度上减轻了情感虐待对自尊的影响。它的第二个目标是探索性别、种族和民族如何调节同伴关系和自尊之间的关联。研究样本由国家儿童和青少年福祉调查 II 进行初步 CPS 调查后与亲生父母同住的 11 至 17 岁青少年组成。该分析仅限于对第二波青少年报告的情感虐待、消极自尊和同伴关系以及第一波人口统计数据和儿童福利参与做出有效回应的案例，共涉及 393 名青少年。研究结果证实了同伴关系的保护作用以及情感虐待对自尊的不利影响。同伴关系的影响在女性和西班牙裔青少年中更为明显。对实践的影响包括基于同伴的干预和预防服务。