Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment
BackgroundChildhood abuse increases risk for high levels of distress in response to future stressors. Interpersonal social support is protective for health, particularly during stress, and may be particularly beneficial for individuals who experienced childhood abuse.ObjectiveInvestigate whether chi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565610/full |
| _version_ | 1818414413314523136 |
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| author | Neha A. John-Henderson Cory J. Counts Annie T. Ginty |
| author_facet | Neha A. John-Henderson Cory J. Counts Annie T. Ginty |
| author_sort | Neha A. John-Henderson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundChildhood abuse increases risk for high levels of distress in response to future stressors. Interpersonal social support is protective for health, particularly during stress, and may be particularly beneficial for individuals who experienced childhood abuse.ObjectiveInvestigate whether childhood abuse predicts levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and test whether the perceived availability of social companionship preceding the pandemic moderates this relationship.MethodsDuring Phase 1, adults (N = 120; Age M[SD] = 19.4 [0.94]) completed a retrospective measure of childhood adversity along with a measure of perceived availability of opportunities for social engagement immediately preceding the pandemic. Two weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration, participants completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) with respect to the pandemic. Hierarchical linear regression analyses examined the interaction between childhood abuse and the perceived availability of social companionship preceding the pandemic as a predictor of PTSD symptoms.ResultsAdjusting for covariates, the interaction between childhood abuse and perceived availability of others to engage with before the onset of the pandemic was a significant predictor of IES-hyperarousal (β = −0.19, t = −2.06, p = 0.04, ΔR2 = 0.032, CI: [−0.31 to −0.01]).ConclusionLevels of perceived opportunities for social companionship before the pandemic associates with levels of hyperarousal related to the pandemic, particularly for individuals who experienced high levels of childhood abuse. More research is needed to understand how to mitigate the higher levels of distress related to the pandemic for these individuals in order to reduce risk for future psychiatric disorders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T11:18:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27753abfaa34401eb8b606935de8a5aa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T11:18:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-27753abfaa34401eb8b606935de8a5aa2022-12-21T23:03:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-02-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.565610565610Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social EnvironmentNeha A. John-Henderson0Cory J. Counts1Annie T. Ginty2Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, College of Letters and Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United StatesDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Arts & Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United StatesBackgroundChildhood abuse increases risk for high levels of distress in response to future stressors. Interpersonal social support is protective for health, particularly during stress, and may be particularly beneficial for individuals who experienced childhood abuse.ObjectiveInvestigate whether childhood abuse predicts levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and test whether the perceived availability of social companionship preceding the pandemic moderates this relationship.MethodsDuring Phase 1, adults (N = 120; Age M[SD] = 19.4 [0.94]) completed a retrospective measure of childhood adversity along with a measure of perceived availability of opportunities for social engagement immediately preceding the pandemic. Two weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration, participants completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) with respect to the pandemic. Hierarchical linear regression analyses examined the interaction between childhood abuse and the perceived availability of social companionship preceding the pandemic as a predictor of PTSD symptoms.ResultsAdjusting for covariates, the interaction between childhood abuse and perceived availability of others to engage with before the onset of the pandemic was a significant predictor of IES-hyperarousal (β = −0.19, t = −2.06, p = 0.04, ΔR2 = 0.032, CI: [−0.31 to −0.01]).ConclusionLevels of perceived opportunities for social companionship before the pandemic associates with levels of hyperarousal related to the pandemic, particularly for individuals who experienced high levels of childhood abuse. More research is needed to understand how to mitigate the higher levels of distress related to the pandemic for these individuals in order to reduce risk for future psychiatric disorders.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565610/fullchildhood abusehyperarousalsocial supportCOVID-19PTSDadults |
| spellingShingle | Neha A. John-Henderson Cory J. Counts Annie T. Ginty Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment Frontiers in Psychology childhood abuse hyperarousal social support COVID-19 PTSD adults |
| title | Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment |
| title_full | Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment |
| title_fullStr | Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment |
| title_short | Associations Between Childhood Abuse and COVID-19 Hyperarousal in Adulthood: The Role of Social Environment |
| title_sort | associations between childhood abuse and covid 19 hyperarousal in adulthood the role of social environment |
| topic | childhood abuse hyperarousal social support COVID-19 PTSD adults |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565610/full |
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