School of Child and Family Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, United States.
Department of Human Development and Family Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States.
Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Oct;108:104645. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104645. Epub 2020 Aug 12.
Research has well-established that childhood maltreatment is associated with depressive and social anxiety symptoms in adults. Emotional support has been proposed as a mediator, yet research investigating the unique contributions of emotional support from friends, family members, and romantic partners in adulthood is sparse.
The current study tested emotional support from family, friends, and romantic partners as mechanisms linking childhood maltreatment to depressive and social anxiety symptoms in adults.
Participants for the current study (N = 798) included adults in a committed romantic relationship and completed both the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS 2) as well as the MIDUS 2 biomarker follow-up project. Emotional support from family, friends, and romantic partners was measured at MIDUS 2 and mental health symptoms were reported at the MIDUS 2 biomarker follow up.
Emotional support from friends was identified as a mechanism from maltreatment to social anxiety symptoms (ß = .04, 95 % CI [.019, .066]), emotional support from family members was a mechanism to depressive symptoms (ß = .09, 95 % CI [.045, .146]), and emotional support from romantic partners was a mechanism for both depressive (ß = .02, 95 % CI [.005, .048]) and social anxiety symptoms (ß = .03, 95 % CI [.008, .048]).
The current study documents that emotional support may be a mechanism linking childhood maltreatment to mental health symptoms. Emotional support from different sources appear to be of significant importance in understanding adult mental health. Clinical implications are discussed.
研究已经充分证实，儿童期虐待与成年人的抑郁和社交焦虑症状有关。情感支持已被提出作为一种中介机制，但关于成年后来自朋友、家庭成员和浪漫伴侣的情感支持的独特贡献的研究却很少。
本研究测试了来自家庭、朋友和浪漫伴侣的情感支持，作为将儿童期虐待与成年人的抑郁和社交焦虑症状联系起来的机制。
本研究的参与者（N=798）包括处于稳定恋爱关系中的成年人，他们同时完成了美国国家中年发展调查（MIDUS 2）的第二波调查以及 MIDUS 2 生物标志物后续项目。家庭、朋友和浪漫伴侣的情感支持在 MIDUS 2 中进行测量，心理健康症状在 MIDUS 2 生物标志物后续项目中报告。
朋友的情感支持被确定为虐待与社交焦虑症状之间的一种机制（β=0.04，95%置信区间[0.019，0.066]），家庭成员的情感支持是抑郁症状的一种机制（β=0.09，95%置信区间[0.045，0.146]），而浪漫伴侣的情感支持是抑郁（β=0.02，95%置信区间[0.005，0.048]）和社交焦虑症状（β=0.03，95%置信区间[0.008，0.048]）的一种机制。
本研究记录了情感支持可能是将儿童期虐待与心理健康症状联系起来的一种机制。来自不同来源的情感支持在理解成年人的心理健康方面似乎具有重要意义。讨论了临床意义。
