The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators
Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk of developing mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood. The present study examines if coping strategies and social support mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems. Method...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04001-2 |
| _version_ | 1818213858403155968 |
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| author | Yingying Su Xiangfei Meng Guang Yang Carl D’Arcy |
| author_facet | Yingying Su Xiangfei Meng Guang Yang Carl D’Arcy |
| author_sort | Yingying Su |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk of developing mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood. The present study examines if coping strategies and social support mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems. Methods Data analyzed were from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey Mental Health (CCHS-MH, N = 25,113), a national population survey. A structured diagnostic interview, the World Health Organization version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), was used to assess mental health status. Multiple mediation analysis with structural equation modelling is used to test the mediating effects of coping skills and social support in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems. Results Our findings demonstrate that both coping strategies and social support mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and major depressive episode (mediation proportion: 18.3%), generalized anxiety disorder (mediation proportion: 19.8%), and suicide ideation (mediation proportion: 15.9%). By and large, the study results showed that coping skills and social support had both direct and indirect effects on the studied mental health problems with coping skills having a stronger impact. Conclusions Personal resources play an important resilience role in the associations between maltreatment and mental disorders with positive coping strategies, an internal resource, having a stronger protective presence. This research reinforces the need for strengthening positive coping strategies as well as social support as preventive strategies to improve mental health for individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:10:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cccb1b242e8c48f9a0b6651b03058a42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-244X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:10:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-cccb1b242e8c48f9a0b6651b03058a422022-12-22T00:35:10ZengBMCBMC Psychiatry1471-244X2022-05-0122111110.1186/s12888-022-04001-2The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediatorsYingying Su0Xiangfei Meng1Guang Yang2Carl D’Arcy3Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University and the Douglas Research CentreDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University and the Douglas Research CentreSchool of Public Health, University of SaskatchewanSchool of Public Health, University of SaskatchewanAbstract Background Childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk of developing mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood. The present study examines if coping strategies and social support mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems. Methods Data analyzed were from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey Mental Health (CCHS-MH, N = 25,113), a national population survey. A structured diagnostic interview, the World Health Organization version of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), was used to assess mental health status. Multiple mediation analysis with structural equation modelling is used to test the mediating effects of coping skills and social support in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems. Results Our findings demonstrate that both coping strategies and social support mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and major depressive episode (mediation proportion: 18.3%), generalized anxiety disorder (mediation proportion: 19.8%), and suicide ideation (mediation proportion: 15.9%). By and large, the study results showed that coping skills and social support had both direct and indirect effects on the studied mental health problems with coping skills having a stronger impact. Conclusions Personal resources play an important resilience role in the associations between maltreatment and mental disorders with positive coping strategies, an internal resource, having a stronger protective presence. This research reinforces the need for strengthening positive coping strategies as well as social support as preventive strategies to improve mental health for individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04001-2Child maltreatmentMental healthSocial supportPsychological adaptationStructural equation modeling |
| spellingShingle | Yingying Su Xiangfei Meng Guang Yang Carl D’Arcy The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators BMC Psychiatry Child maltreatment Mental health Social support Psychological adaptation Structural equation modeling |
| title | The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| title_full | The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| title_fullStr | The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| title_full_unstemmed | The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| title_short | The relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems: coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| title_sort | relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health problems coping strategies and social support act as mediators |
| topic | Child maltreatment Mental health Social support Psychological adaptation Structural equation modeling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04001-2 |
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