Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Germany.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Aug;154:106938. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106938. Epub 2024 Jul 6.
Childhood adversity (CA) is strongly associated with depression and anxiety in later life. Many adults with a history of CA may have internalized an insecure self-concept, which may contribute to negative evaluations of one's current well-being relative to different standards. Yet, there is lack of research on well-being comparisons in adults with a history of CA.
We examined aversive well-being comparisons (i.e., comparisons threatening the comparer's motives) in the context of CA and their predictive value in depression and anxiety beyond self-esteem, emotion regulation, and external control beliefs. Further, we investigated whether well-being comparison processes mediate the relationship between CA and depression and anxiety.
We conducted a two-wave longitudinal study with 942 adult participants (mean age: 31.56 years, SD = 10.49, 18-75 years).
Participants completed measures of CA, aversive well-being comparisons (social, temporal, counterfactual, and criteria-based comparisons), self-esteem, emotion regulation, and locus of control at two time points, three months apart.
CA was significantly linked to more frequent aversive well-being comparisons. These comparisons were associated with greater discrepancies relative to the comparison standard and a more negative affective impact, ultimately contributing to higher levels of subsequent anxiety and depression symptoms. Comparison frequency emerged as key mediator, highlighting potential pathways through which CA affects adult mental health. These associations emerged despite controlling for established variables in this context, namely self-esteem, emotion regulation, and external locus of control.
Our findings underscore the unique importance of aversive well-being comparisons in individuals with a history of CA.
儿童时期逆境（CA）与成年后抑郁和焦虑密切相关。许多有 CA 病史的成年人可能内化了一种不安全的自我概念，这可能导致他们对当前幸福感的评价相对于不同的标准更为负面。然而，对于有 CA 病史的成年人的幸福感比较研究还很缺乏。
我们在 CA 背景下研究了不愉快的幸福感比较（即威胁比较者动机的比较），以及其在自尊、情绪调节和外部控制信念之外对抑郁和焦虑的预测价值。此外，我们还探讨了幸福感比较过程是否在 CA 与抑郁和焦虑之间的关系中起中介作用。
我们进行了一项为期两年的纵向研究，共有 942 名成年参与者（平均年龄：31.56 岁，标准差=10.49，18-75 岁）。
参与者在两个时间点完成了 CA、不愉快幸福感比较（社会、时间、反事实和基于标准的比较）、自尊、情绪调节和控制源的测量，两次测量时间相隔三个月。
CA 与更频繁的不愉快幸福感比较显著相关。这些比较与比较标准之间的差异更大，对情感的负面影响更大，最终导致更高水平的后续焦虑和抑郁症状。比较频率是关键的中介变量，突出了 CA 影响成年人心理健康的潜在途径。这些关联在考虑到该背景下的既定变量（即自尊、情绪调节和外部控制源）后仍然存在。
我们的研究结果强调了不愉快幸福感比较在有 CA 病史的个体中的独特重要性。
