Pfluger Viviane, Rohner Shauna L, Eising Carla M, Maercker Andreas, Thoma Myriam V
Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
University Research Priority Program Dynamics of Healthy Ageing, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 23;13:820345. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.820345. eCollection 2022.
Individuals with complex trauma exposure (CTE) in early life (i.e., childhood/adolescence) are at heightened risk for developing problems in various domains of functioning. As such, CTE has repeatedly been linked to internalizing mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, as well as emotion dysregulation across the lifespan. While these correlates of CTE are comparatively well studied up to middle adulthood, they are insufficiently studied in older adulthood. Therefore, this study aimed to (a) compare Swiss older adults with and without a CTE history regarding current and lifetime internalizing mental health disorders and emotion regulation strategies; and (b) to examine the potential mediating role of emotion regulation in the mental health disparities between these groups. A total of = 257 participants (age = 49-95 years; 46.3% female) were assessed in a retrospective, cross-sectional study, using two face-to-face interviews. The CTE group ( = 161; = 69.66 years, 48.4% female) presented with significantly more current and lifetime internalizing mental health disorders than the non-affected (nCTE) group ( = 96; = 72.49 years, 42.7% female). The CTE group showed significantly higher emotion suppression and lower emotion reappraisal compared to the nCTE group. Mediation analysis revealed that the two emotion regulation strategies were significant mediators between CTE history and internalizing mental health disorders. Findings emphasize the relevance of emotion (dys-)regulation in understanding mental health disparities in older age and deciding about treatment strategies. Research and practice should pay more attention to the needs of this high-risk group of older individuals.
早年（即童年/青少年时期）经历过复杂创伤暴露（CTE）的个体在各个功能领域出现问题的风险更高。因此，CTE一再被认为与内化型心理健康障碍（如抑郁和焦虑）以及一生中的情绪失调有关。虽然CTE的这些关联在中年之前得到了相对充分的研究，但在老年人群中研究不足。因此，本研究旨在：（a）比较有和没有CTE病史的瑞士老年人在当前和一生的内化型心理健康障碍及情绪调节策略方面的情况；（b）检验情绪调节在这些群体心理健康差异中的潜在中介作用。在一项回顾性横断面研究中，通过两次面对面访谈对总共257名参与者（年龄49 - 95岁；46.3%为女性）进行了评估。CTE组（n = 161；平均年龄 = 69.66岁，48.4%为女性）目前和一生的内化型心理健康障碍明显多于未受影响的（nCTE）组（n = 96；平均年龄 = 72.49岁，42.7%为女性）。与nCTE组相比，CTE组表现出明显更高的情绪抑制和更低的情绪重新评估。中介分析表明，这两种情绪调节策略是CTE病史与内化型心理健康障碍之间的重要中介因素。研究结果强调了情绪（失调）调节在理解老年人心理健康差异和确定治疗策略方面的相关性。研究和实践应更多关注这一老年高危群体的需求。
