The mediating effect of understanding the Principle of Thought and innate mental health between maladaptive repetitive thought and psychopathology/mental health for adults exposed to adverse childhood experiences

Abstract

Background

A common liability among adults exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is their use of maladaptive repetitive thought (or MRT), such as worry and rumination, which is associated in the literature with almost every psychopathology and worse clinical outcomes.

Objective

We posit that these adults are prone to use MRT because they have an insufficient understanding of the Principle of Thought and innate mental health, and we test this speculation by examining the mediating effect of understanding the Principle of Thought¹ and innate mental health in the relationship between MRT and psychopathology and between MRT and mental health for adults exposed to ACEs.

Participants

and Setting: Participants were obtained with assistance from a non-profit that promotes the understanding of the Principle of Thought and innate mental health and a midwestern state university. These organizations sent electronic requests to their followers directing them to the survey site, and 690 adults with exposure to ACEs completed the research survey.

Methods

Bivariate multiple regression and Sobel tests are used to determine the mediating effect of understanding the Principle of Thought and innate mental health in the relationship between MRT and psychopathology and between MRT and mental health.

Results

For all participants, understanding the Principle of Thought and innate mental health significantly mediated the relationship between MRT and psychopathology (Sobel value = 6.453; p = < .001) and between MRT and mental health (Sobel value = −6.045; p = < .001). For participants reporting five ACEs or more (N = 200), understanding the Principle of Thought and innate mental health was also a significantly mediator between MRT and psychopathology (Sobel value = 3.947; p = < .001) and between MRT and mental health (Sobel value = 3.947; p = < .001). For both relationships, understanding innate mental health was an even stronger mediator than understanding the Principle of Thought.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that via assisting adults (and children) exposed to ACEs to gain a sufficient understanding of the Principle of Thought and innate mental health they can avoid MRT, reduce their mental distress, and improve their mental health.