Reliability of the instruments.

Maltreatment affects emotional development in adolescents and inhibits social adjustment. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between maltreatment and mental health among adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted on adolescents in the first and second grades of middle school (12–14 years old) and high school (15–17 years old) in eight cities and municipalities in the province, selected through several stages of simple random sampling (N = 1837). The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool for Children (ICAST-C) questionnaire for detecting maltreatment was translated, simplified, and validated by an expert based on a theoretical framework that involved pediatricians, public health, and medicolegal perspectives. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess emotional states. ICAST-C and SDQ scores were transformed to logit values using Rasch model analysis. Distribution frequency and linear regression were used for data analysis. The results indicated that 85.6% of adolescents aged 12–14 and 83% of those aged 15–17 experienced physical maltreatment, while 89.4% of the 12–14 age group and 82.9% of the 15–17 age group experienced psychological maltreatment. The emotional states of the two groups were 52.8% and 59.2%, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the experience of physical maltreatment and emotions among 12–14 (r1 = 0.148 (0.190–0.257)) and 15–17 years old (r1 = 0.047 (0.084–0.156)). There was a significant correlation between the experience of psychological maltreatment and emotions among 12–14 years old ’(r2 = 0.191 (0.270–0.350)) and 15 to 17 years old (r2 = 0.097 (0.167–0.252)). In conclusion, physical and psychological maltreatment were correlated with mental health states among adolescent students in West Java, Indonesia.