Stress Generation in Adolescent Depression: The Moderating Role of Child Abuse and Neglect

The present study examined the role of childhood abuse and neglect and depression recurrence in moderating the generation of stressful life events in adolescent depression. Maltreatment history and stressful life events were assessed using two rigorous contextual interviews and rating systems. In a sample of 59 community depressed adolescents we found significantly higher rates of interpersonal events in the 3-month period immediately following depression episode onset versus the 3-month period immediately preceding onset in adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment. By contrast, rates of events remained constant over a matched period in a control group of non-maltreated adolescents. Furthermore, the generation of interpersonal events only held among those on a first onset of depression. These results suggest that a history of childhood abuse and neglect exacerbates the psychosocial dysfunction associated with the onset of depression, particularly in the very first episode.     

Effects of trauma and religiosity on self-esteem

Self-esteem is often lower among persons who have experienced trauma, but religiosity may ameliorate these psychological effects. The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationships among religiosity, self-esteem, and childhood exposure to trauma, utilizing data from the National Comorbidity Survey, a large (N = 8,098) nationally representative population survey in the 48 contiguous states of the USA that assessed religious practices, self-esteem, and exposure to trauma. Exposure to trauma in childhood was assessed through self-report of presence or absence of childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect. Religiosity was assessed as the sum of responses to 4 self-report items (religious service attendance, use of religion for comfort and guidance, and importance of religion). Self-esteem was assessed on 9 self-report items adapted from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Analysis of variance compared scores for persons who reported exposure to childhood abuse and differed in the value they placed on various religious practices on self-esteem. Persons who reported physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect in childhood had significantly lower mean self-esteem than those who did not report these events. There was also a main effect for religiosity in a comparison of persons who reported childhood sexual abuse with those who reported none. The High Religiosity group had higher mean self-esteem than the Medium and Low Religiosity groups. There was a significant interaction as those who reported childhood sexual abuse had lower mean self-esteem than peers who reported none in the Low and Medium Religiosity groups. Mean self-esteem for those who reported childhood sexual abuse was comparable to that of those who reported none in the High Religiosity group.     

儿童期受虐经历与抑郁的元分析

本研究采用元分析技术探讨儿童期虐待亚类型与抑郁的关系。通过文献搜索与检查获得了31项研究和92个独立效应量,共包含24283名被试。元分析表明儿童期虐待亚类型(心理虐待与忽视、性虐待、身体虐待与忽视)对抑郁障碍存在不同程度的影响,其中心理虐待与忽视影响程度最高;另外,被试的年龄、性别可以调节儿童期虐待与抑郁的关系。这些结果表明了在预防和治疗儿童期不良经历对抑郁影响时,尤其要关注心理虐待与忽视的消极影响,且应给予青少年群体、女性更多的关注和保护。     

领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响

采用问卷法调查了1319名青少年,探讨了领悟社会支持对感恩与青少年生活满意度之间关系的中介效应以及压力性生活事件对此中介效应是否具有调节效应。结果发现：（1）领悟社会支持在感恩与青少年生活满意度之间起着部分中介作用;（2）领悟社会支持的中介作用受到压力性生活事件的调节,压力性生活事件调节了感恩 领悟社会支持 生活满意度这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响是有调节的中介效应。研究结论对提高青少年的生活满意度具有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

Gendered adversity and mental health of adolescents orphaned by AIDS in a rural South African community: An exploratory study

This study explored gender differences in adversity and mental health among South African adolescents orphaned by AIDS. Adolescents (N = 121; females = 45.5%; mean age 14.14 years, SD = 2.09) self-reported their childhood adversities and probable mental ill health on the Child Trauma and General Health Questionnaire. Results revealed that female participants orphaned by AIDS were significantly more likely to report childhood adversity at total score level as compared to male participants. However, both male and female participants reported comparable scores on subscales of childhood adversity (emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical neglect). Moreover, female participants displayed higher composite mental ill health and all its subscales except for social dysfunction. Our findings suggest that gender-sensitive programmes and policies to address the effect of childhood adversity and mental ill health among adolescents orphaned by AIDS, are urgently needed.     

童年期心理虐待与忽视对高中生自杀意念的影响：述情障碍的中介作用和寻求意义感的调节作用

为了探讨童年期心理虐待与忽视与自杀意念之间的关系及其作用机制,本研究采用心理虐待与忽视量表、多伦多述情障碍量表、青少年自杀意念量表及生命意义感量表中的寻求意义感分量表对1074名高中生进行调查。结果表明：（1）童年期心理虐待与忽视对自杀意念有正向预测作用,并且能够通过述情障碍的中介作用影响高中生自杀意念;（2）寻求意义感调节了这一中介过程的直接路径和后半段路径,对后半段路径的调节作用存在性别差异。     

Comparison of scores for abused and nonabused young adults on the Psychological Trauma and Resources Scale

The Psychological Trauma and Psychological Resources Scale has been developed to identify adolescents and adults who have experienced traumatic events, i.e., physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and neglect. The scale also attempts to identify the presence of compensatory or resource factors such as social support that may serve to ameliorate the effects of traumatic events. 98 college participants who reported a history of abuse were compared with 464 nonabused students on the seven subscales. As predicted, the abused participants reported significantly more incidents of abuse and neglect than the nontraumatized group. In addition, the abused group reported receiving less emotional support, and they were less likely to use positive self-talk as a way to decrease emotional distress. These results provide empirical support for using the Psychological Trauma and Psychological Resources Scale to identify individuals with a history of abuse. Findings underscore the importance of assessing resource variables that may moderate the effects of abuse.     

压力性生活事件对青少年主观幸福感的影响机制

在应对的交互作用模式、压力缓冲与压力易损性假说基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,探讨应对方式在青少年压力性生活事件与主观幸福感之间的中介效应,以及情绪智力的调节效应。被试为1670名青少年,研究工具包括青少年生活事件量表、特质应对方式问卷、情绪智力量表和主观幸福感问卷。结果显示:(1)应对方式在压力性生活事件与主观幸福感之间起部分中介作用。(2)情绪智力在压力性生活事件对应对方式的影响中起调节作用:在低压力性生活事件下,高情绪智力的青少年应对方式较好,在高压力性生活事件下,不论情绪智力如何,应对方式都不好,情绪智力是压力易损因子。     

Sex differences and adolescent depression

This study investigates the role of certain psychosocial variables--sex, age, body image/self-esteem, self-consciousness, stressful life events, and the degree to which an individual identifies with the cultural stereotype of masculinity--as correlates and antecedents to depression in adolescents and explores possible intraindividual mediators of the stress-depression relationship in adolescents. A battery of self-report measures was administered to public high school students in Grades 9-12 in their classrooms at two different times 1 month apart. Female adolescents reported more depressive symptoms, self-consciousness, stressful recent events, feminine attributes, and negative body image and self-esteem; no age effects were obtained. Results suggest a model of adolescent depression in which body/self-esteem and stressful recent events are significant contributors.     

Childhood trauma and parental bonding among Japanese female patients with borderline personality disorder

The present study explored the relationship between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and childhood trauma and perceived parental behaviours among a sample of Japanese female outpatients. Participants were 45 female patients who were diagnosed with BPD and 45 female patients with a diagnosis of other nonorganic psychological disorders (aged 19 to 53). The participants completed surveys that assessed recollection of childhood abuse and neglect, perceived parental-rearing behaviours, and symptoms of BPD. MANOVAs and logistic regression analyses were conducted in order to analyse the data. The results showed that the patients with BPD reported more severe forms of childhood traumas, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and emotional and physical neglect, than did the non-BPD patients. This is consistent with previous findings in North America that have reported higher prevalence and greater severity of various childhood traumas in individuals with BPD compared with those with non-BPD disorders or nonclinical samples. This study also found that the patients with BPD recalled both of their parents as more overprotective/controlling and less caring than did the non-BPD patients. Last, logistic regression analyses found significant predictors of BPD diagnosis were reported emotional abuse and neglect as well as perceived paternal overprotection. Overall, these results indicate that whereas psychological risk factors in Japan are similar to those reported elsewhere, the same pathology can emerge from somewhat different causal pathways.     

Measuring abuse stress and negative cognitive appraisals in child sexual abuse: Validity data on two new scales

The validity of two measures assessing degree of stress associated with child sexual abuse was examined in a sample of 48 girls who had been sexually abused. The Checklist of Sexual Abuse and Related Stressors (C-SARS) assessed negative life events that were part of or were related to the abuse, and the Negative Appraisals of Sexual Abuse Scale (NASAS) assessed negative cognitive appraisals of threat, harm, or loss associated with the abuse. Total scores for victim reports of both stressful events and negative appraisals were positively and significantly related to two other measures of abuse severity: therapist ratings of abuse stress and the number of types of sexual abuse reported. Stressful event scores were also related to aggressive behavior problems, sexual concerns, and total symptom scores on the Child Behavior Checklist. Negative cognitive appraisal scores were related to victims' self-reports of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, and to parent reports of child depression and total symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that there were significant effects of negative appraisals on internalizing symptoms when controlling for the level of stressful events experienced. The results suggest that negative life events and negative appraisals associated with sexual abuse are valid constructs that help account for variability in mental health outcomes among child victims. The implications of these results and future research directions in examining variable outcomes among sexual abuse victims are discussed.     

The relationship between childhood abuse and depression in a sample of Chinese people who use methamphetamine

Background/ObjectivePrevious studies have shown that childhood abuse is associated with symptoms of depression. This study aims to examine the prevalence of childhood abuse or neglect and its correlation with depression among a sample of Chinese people who use methamphetamine.MethodPeople who use methamphetamine (MA) (N = 1,173) were recruited from government-operated drug rehabilitation centres in Anhui province, China. Participants were assessed using the short form of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory-II for childhood abuse or neglect and depression symptoms.ResultsA total of 44.6% of people who use MA reported moderate/severe childhood abuse or neglect, and 56.9% of this sample were diagnosed with depression. Emotional abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect were revealed to increase the risk of depression. Multivariable regression analyses showed that depression scores were significantly predicted by gender, duration of drug use, sexual abuse and emotional neglect (model R² = .08, p < .001). The interaction between emotional neglect and duration of drug use on the depression was statistically significant.ConclusionsThese analyses indicate that sexual abuse and emotional neglect increase the severity of depression in individuals who use MA in drug rehabilitation centres of China.     

Childhood maltreatment associated with adult personality disorders: findings from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study

Adverse childhood experiences such as abuse and neglect are frequently implicated in the development of personality disorders (PDs); however, research on the childhood histories of most PD groups remains limited. In this multisite investigation, we assessed self-reported history of abuse and neglect experiences among 600 patients diagnosed with either a PD (borderline, schizotypal, avoidant, or obsessive-compulsive) or major depressive disorder without PD. Results indicate that rates of childhood maltreatment among individuals with PDs are generally high (73% reporting abuse; 82% reporting neglect). As expected, borderline PD was more consistently associated with childhood abuse and neglect than other PD diagnoses. However, even when controlling for the effect of borderline PD, other PD diagnoses were associated with specific types of maltreatment.     

Personality and social resources in stress resistance

This study examined personality, social assets, and perceived social support as moderators of the effects of stressful life events on illness onset. In a group of 170 middle and upper level executives, personality hardiness and stressful life events consistently influenced illness scores, the former serving to lower symptomatology, the latter to increase it. Perceived boss support had its predicted positive effect. Executives under high stress who perceived support from their supervisors had lower illness scores than those without support. Perceived family support, on the other hand, showed a negative effect on health when reported by those low in hardiness. Finally, social assets made no significant impact on health status. These results underscore the value of differentiating between kinds of social resources, and of monitoring the effects of two or more stress-resistance resources in a single study.     

Biparental failure in the childhood experiences of borderline patients

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of biparental abuse and neglect in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). A semistructured research interview was used to blindly assess the childhood experiences of biparental abuse and neglect reported by 358 borderline inpatients and 109 axis II controls. Eighty-four percent of borderline patients reported having experienced some type of biparental abuse or neglect before the age of 18; 55% reported a childhood history of biparental abuse; 77% reported a childhood history of biparental neglect. These experiences were also reported by a substantial percentage of Axis II controls (biparental abuse or neglect [61%], biparental abuse [31%], and biparental neglect [55%]). However, borderline patients were significantly more likely than axis II controls to report having been verbally, emotionally, and physically but not sexually abused by caretakers of both sexes. They were also significantly more likely than controls to report having caretakers of both sexes deny the validity of their thoughts and feelings, fail to provide them with needed protection, neglect their physical care, withdraw from them emotionally, and treat them inconsistently. It was also found that female borderlines who reported a previous history of neglect by a female caretaker and abuse by a male caretaker were at significantly higher risk for having been sexually abused by a noncaretaker. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that biparental failure may be a significant factor in the etiology of BPD. They also suggest that biparental failure may significantly increase a preborderline girl's risk of being sexually abused by someone other than her parents.     

Adult Life Satisfaction and the Role of Forgiveness After Childhood Sexual Abuse: Evidence from a Seventh‐day Adventist Cohort

Negative physical and mental health outcomes are well documented for those who experience child sexual abuse. We explore the role of three types of dispositional forgiveness (of self, of others, and by God) as effect modifiers of the child sexual abuse and life satisfaction relationship. In 2010–2011, a sample of 5,506 Seventh‐day Adventists reported levels of forgiveness, life satisfaction, and whether or not they had experienced sexual abuse in each of the two age periods (younger than 8 years and 8–18 years). Reported experience of childhood sexual abuse lowered life satisfaction regardless of when the child sexual abuse occurred. Forgiveness of self and of others were associated with higher life satisfaction regardless of sexual abuse exposure. Feeling forgiven by God was associated with increased life satisfaction indirectly through forgiveness of self and others. However, for those abused later in childhood, the association of abuse with reduced life satisfaction was weaker for those who felt forgiven by God. These findings suggest forgiveness by God operates primarily through forgiveness of self (and others) but can also buffer the effects of childhood sexual abuse on later life satisfaction when the abuse occurs in childhood/adolescence.     

儿童期虐待对大学生情绪调节自我效能感的影响

探讨大学生儿童期虐待与情绪调节自我效能感(RESE)的关系。采用儿童期虐待问卷和情绪调节自我效能感量表调查472名大学生,筛选未受虐待者为对照组,并设定情感虐待伴情感忽视(EAEN)、情感忽视伴躯体忽视(ENPN)和情感虐待伴躯体忽视(EAPN)共3个实验组。结果表明：⑴躯体虐待、情感虐待、性虐待、躯体忽视和情感忽视发生率分别为7.3%、40.2%、12.0%、42.1%、41.3%;⑵典型相关分析发现,虐待和RESE的整体相关显著,虐待变量和RESE变量可被自身典型变量解释的比例分别为34.5%和36.8%,冗余指数分别6.7和7.2;⑶EAEN和ENPN组调节生气/愤怒情绪效能感得分显著高于EAPN组,对照组调节积极情绪效能感得分显著高于3个实验组。     

Experience of stress in childhood negatively correlates with plasma oxytocin concentration in adult men

Early life experience is known to affect responses to stress in adulthood. Adverse experience in childhood and/or adolescence sensitises to life events that precipitate depression in later life. Published evidence suggests a relationship between depression and oxytocin (OT), but the extent to which early life experience influences OT disposition in adulthood deserves further exploration. This study hypothesised that early life stress (ELS) has a long-term negative effect on OT system activity. The study was performed on 90 male volunteers (18-56 years; mean ± standard deviation = 27.7 ± 7.09 years). Several questionnaires were used to assess: health, early life stressful experiences in childhood (ELS-C, up to 12 years) and early life stressful adolescence (13-18 years), recent stressful life events, depressive symptoms, state-trait anxiety and social desirability. Plasma OT concentration was estimated by means of a competitive enzyme immunoassay. Lower OT concentrations were significantly associated with higher levels of ELS-C (p < 0.01), and with depressive symptoms and trait anxiety (both p < 0.05). The interaction between ELS-C and trait anxiety was significant (p < 0.05), indicating that the link between ELS-C and plasma OT concentration is moderated by trait anxiety. These results contribute to the evidence that early life adverse experience is negatively associated with OT system activity in adulthood, and offer further insight into mediator and moderator effects on this link.     

Sexual Assault History and Health-Related Outcomes in a National Sample of Women

This study examined correlates of past-year chronic medical conditions and lifetime contact with health care professionals for mental health and substance abuse problems in women with differing histories of sexual victimization  ( N  = 627)  identified from the National Comorbidity Survey (e.g., assault in childhood, adulthood, or both life phases). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stressful life events were associated with greater odds of chronic medical conditions among women sexually assaulted in childhood only. Additional traumatic events were associated with greater odds of chronic medical conditions among victims of adult sexual assault. Older age and being married were associated with greater odds of lifetime health care professional contact for mental health/substance abuse issues among certain victim subgroups. Stressful life events were related to greater help-seeking for child victims, and traumatic events were related to greater help-seeking in adult victims. Alcohol dependence symptoms and PTSD were each associated with greater odds of lifetime health care professional contact among women victimized in both life phases, whereas depression was related to greater odds of help-seeking for women victimized in one life phase only. Psychosocial factors may play unique roles in health outcomes for women with different sexual assault histories.     

亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童情绪和行为适应的保护作用

以1008名初中流动儿童为研究对象,在压力背景下探讨亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童不同情绪适应（孤独感、社交焦虑）和行为适应结果（问题行为、亲社会行为）的保护作用,并揭示二者保护作用的适用领域及其差异。结果表明：（1）亲子关系显著预测行为适应,朋友支持显著预测情绪适应和亲社会行为。（2）亲子关系能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童问题行为的消极作用。（3）朋友支持能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童孤独感和社交焦虑的消极作用。（4）尽管亲子关系和朋友支持都能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童亲社会行为的消极作用,但压力事件较少时二者的保护效应更强。这提示流动儿童与父母和朋友的紧密情感联结能够缓解压力事件对其情绪和行为适应的消极作用：父母是缓解行为适应问题的保护因素,朋友是缓解情绪适应问题的保护因素;积极行为适应能够同时获益于父母和朋友支持。