NCJ Number
240764
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2012 Pages: 393-403
Date Published
May 2012
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This retrospective, cross-sectional study examined the link between childhood physical and psychological maltreatment and self-reported physical health concerns in adult women; the mediating roles of perceived stress and coping strategies were examined.
Abstract
Findings indicate that child maltreatment is an important risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that adult (current) stress and coping strategies may influence this link. After controlling for a history child sexual abuse and relevant demographic variables, child physical and psychological maltreatment were significantly associated with greater physical health concerns. Results support models in which perceived stress and emotion-focused coping partially mediate the link between maltreatment and health problems as adults. Problem-focused and avoidance coping did not operate as mediators. Multi-mediation model testing found that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress in combination better explain the link between child maltreatment and physical health than either variable alone. Thus, the management of perceived stress and the use of adaptive emotion-focused coping responses in the daily lives of maltreated women may be particularly useful points of intervention in order to mitigate physical health concerns in adulthood. Participants were 235 women (ages 18-59 years old) recruited from the community. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to obtain self-reported information on childhood maltreatment and current perceived stress, coping strategies, and health conditions. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. 2 figures, 3 tables, and 67 references