Nahar Kamrun, Mousum Sabrina, Salwa Marium, Fatema Khandakar, Chowdhury Taslima, Tasnim Anika, Khan Md Maruf Haque, Haque M Atiqul
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Child Abuse Negl. 2025 May;163:107308. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107308. Epub 2025 Feb 16.
Childhood adverse and favorable experiences before the age of 18 have enduring effects on an adult's mental health.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
18岁之前的童年不良经历和积极经历会对成年人的心理健康产生持久影响。
我们研究了良性童年经历（BCEs）对成年后期不良童年经历（ACEs）与不良心理健康结果（抑郁、焦虑、压力）之间联系的调节作用。
这项横断面研究于2021年9月至2022年3月在孟加拉国赖根杰乌帕齐拉县丹加拉联盟对384名年龄≥40岁的成年人进行。
使用半结构化问卷在随机抽取的家庭中进行面对面访谈。使用SPSS和R软件进行分析和绘图。
大多数受访者（95.6%）经历过不同类型的ACEs，20.5%报告有超过4种ACEs，31.7%报告了全部10种BCEs。发现ACEs与抑郁（b = 0.761，p = 0.001）、焦虑（b = 0.740，p = 0.0003）、压力（b = 0.812，p = 0.0003）之间存在显著关联。交互作用表明，BCEs对ACEs与抑郁（b = -0.35，p = 0.009）、焦虑（b = -0.27，p = 0.009）和压力（b = -0.30，p = 0.018）症状之间的关系具有调节作用。约翰逊-内曼显著性区域表明，BCEs的调节作用在达到一定阈值之前是显著的（抑郁 = 8.91，p = 0.05；焦虑 = 9.04，p = 0.05；压力 = 8.97，p = 0.05）。超过这个阈值，未观察到显著变化，这表明BCEs的缓冲作用存在限度。
我们的研究结果表明，超过一定阈值后，ACEs的影响对BCEs的进一步缓解具有抗性，导致不良心理健康结果。因此，通过制定有针对性的干预措施和政策来促进更健康的童年经历至关重要。
