Resilience to Adult Psychopathology Following Childhood Maltreatment: Evidence From a Community Sample

• NCJ Number: 218922
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 211-229
• Author(s): Stephan Collishaw; Andrew Pickles; Julie Messer; Michael Rutter; Christina Shearer; Barbara Maughan
• Date Published: March 2007
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): G9826580; 98.2
• Sponsoring Agency: Nuffield Foundation; British Medical Research Council
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the extent of resilience (ability of a person to avoid or mitigate adult psychopathology after experiencing childhood maltreatment) in a representative community sample, as well as the identification of predictors of resilience.

Abstract

Ten percent of the 2,307 individuals in the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom) study reported repeated or severe physical or sexual abuse in their childhoods. More than half of those abused as children showed increased rates of adolescent psychiatric disorders. Rates of adult psychopathology were also high (55.5 percent of those who reported childhood maltreatment). Risks for adult recurrent depression, suicidal behavior, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse were significantly higher for those abused as children. A substantial minority (44.5 percent) of the abused individuals, however, reported no mental health problems in adult life. The factors that fostered the absence of mental disorder following a history of childhood maltreatment were perceived parental care, positive adolescent peer relationships, the quality of adult love relationships, and personality characteristics. Abused individuals with high neuroticism scores were significantly less likely to be resilient to adult psychopathology. Rates of resilience were considerably higher among adults who reported the presence of at least one parent rated as very caring. Data were drawn from a follow-up of the Isle of Wight study that initially began in 1964 as one of the first systematic epidemiological investigations in child psychiatry. The current follow-up study was conducted between 1998 and 2000. The original sample was assessed regarding mental health in adolescence and at middle-age. For adolescence, ratings were calculated for psychiatric disorder, peer relationships, and family functioning. Assessments in adulthood focused on lifetime psychiatric history, personality and social functioning, and retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse. 6 tables, 1 figure, and 63 references