Childhood echoes: How benevolent and adverse childhood experiences shape adult mental well-being.

BACKGROUND

Childhood adverse and favorable experiences before the age of 18 have enduring effects on an adult's mental health.

OBJECTIVE

We investigate the moderating effect of benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) on the link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress) in an adult's later life.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 adults aged ≥40 years from September 2021 to March 2022 at Dhangara Union of Raiganj Upazila, Bangladesh.

METHODS

Face-to-face interviews were conducted in randomly selected households using a semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis and plots were generated using SPSS and R software.

RESULTS

Most of the respondents (95·6 %) experienced different types of ACEs, 20·5 % reporting >4 ACEs, and 31·7 % reporting all ten BCEs. Significant associations were found between ACEs and depression (b = 0.761, p = 0·001), anxiety (b = 0.740, p = 0·0003), stress (b = 0.812, p = 0·0003). The interactions showed that BCEs have moderating effect on the relationship between ACEs and depression (b = -0·35, p = 0·009), anxiety (b = -0·27, p = 0·009), and stress (b = -0·30, p = 0·018) symptoms. The Johnson-Neyman region of significance evidenced that the moderating effect of BCEs was significant up to a certain threshold (depression = 8·91, p = 0·05; anxiety = 9·04, p = 0·05; stress = 8·97, p = 0·05). Beyond this threshold, no significant change was observed, suggesting a limit to the buffering effect of BCEs.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that beyond a certain threshold, the effects of ACEs become resistant to further mitigation by BCEs, resulting in poor mental health outcomes. So, it is essential to promote healthier childhood experiences by developing targeted interventions and policies.