Racial Differences in Coping as a Mediating Pathway from Childhood Adversity to Adult Health

Abstract

People who experience adversity early in life are vulnerable to psychological and physical health problems across the lifespan. Although some evidence indicates that coping style mediates this long-term association, it is not known whether these relationships generalize to Black Americans. This study examined whether coping style plays an intermediary role between adverse childhood experiences and adult health, and if there are Black and White differences among these relationships. Data (N = 3680) were drawn from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher and Milwaukee Refresher projects. Using model-based Bayesian imputation, moderated mediation models were estimated. Estimates of the indirect pathways from adversity to six distinct measures of adult health via coping style were obtained separately by race. A key finding was that for Black participants, early adversity was consistently associated with increased emotion-focused coping which in turn was associated with poorer health outcomes. This result was discussed considering the divergent experiences of Black and White individuals in the United States.