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

IF 3.4 2区心理学 Q1 FAMILY STUDIES Child Abuse & Neglect Pub Date : 2025-02-16 DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107308

Kamrun Nahar, Sabrina Mousum, Marium Salwa, Khandakar Fatema, Taslima Chowdhury, Anika Tasnim, Md Maruf Haque Khan, M Atiqul Haque

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

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.

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来源期刊

Child Abuse & Neglect Multiple-

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

10.40%

发文量

397

期刊介绍： Official Publication of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect The International Journal, provides an international, multidisciplinary forum on all aspects of child abuse and neglect, with special emphasis on prevention and treatment; the scope extends further to all those aspects of life which either favor or hinder child development. While contributions will primarily be from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, law enforcement, legislature, education, and anthropology, the Journal encourages the concerned lay individual and child-oriented advocate organizations to contribute.