TY - JOUR
T1 - Severity of post-traumatic stress disorder and childhood abuse in adult crime victims as mediated by low resilience and dysfunctional coping strategies
AU - Kim, Myeongju
AU - Hong, Gahae
AU - Kim, Rye Young
AU - Song, Yumi
AU - Lee, Hyangwon
AU - Joo, Yoonji
AU - Kim, Jungyoon
AU - Yoon, Sujung
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Background: Experience of childhood abuse has been suggested to increase the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. We hypothesized that resilience and coping strategies, which could be altered by experiencing childhood abuse, may mediate the effects of childhood abuse on PTSD severity in adulthood. Methods: Crime victims with PTSD (n = 212, 38 men, aged 20–65 years) were recruited from South Korea. PTSD severity, a history of childhood abuse, resilience level, and use of coping strategies were assessed using structured clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires. Upon identifying the key factors that were associated with childhood abuse and PTSD severity, mediating roles of these key factors were examined using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping in simple and multiple mediation analyses. Results: Resilience and dysfunctional coping strategies mediated the association between childhood abuse and lifetime PTSD severity in the adulthood, after covarying for the number of repeated trauma exposure (total effect: β = 0.44, P = 0.01, 95% CI [0.10, 0.77]; direct effect: β = 0.02, P = 0.90, 95% CI [−0.34, 0.38]; indirect effect: β = 0.42, P = 0.003, 95% CI [0.14, 0.69]). Limitations: Recall of childhood abuse experience and lifetime PTSD severity can be biased in crime victims. Conclusions: These findings may suggest that resilience and coping strategies mediate the detrimental effects of childhood abuse on lifetime PTSD severity. Targeted treatments that are designed to enhance resilience as well as deter the use of dysfunctional coping strategies may be of help in crime victims with a history of childhood abuse.
AB - Background: Experience of childhood abuse has been suggested to increase the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. We hypothesized that resilience and coping strategies, which could be altered by experiencing childhood abuse, may mediate the effects of childhood abuse on PTSD severity in adulthood. Methods: Crime victims with PTSD (n = 212, 38 men, aged 20–65 years) were recruited from South Korea. PTSD severity, a history of childhood abuse, resilience level, and use of coping strategies were assessed using structured clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires. Upon identifying the key factors that were associated with childhood abuse and PTSD severity, mediating roles of these key factors were examined using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping in simple and multiple mediation analyses. Results: Resilience and dysfunctional coping strategies mediated the association between childhood abuse and lifetime PTSD severity in the adulthood, after covarying for the number of repeated trauma exposure (total effect: β = 0.44, P = 0.01, 95% CI [0.10, 0.77]; direct effect: β = 0.02, P = 0.90, 95% CI [−0.34, 0.38]; indirect effect: β = 0.42, P = 0.003, 95% CI [0.14, 0.69]). Limitations: Recall of childhood abuse experience and lifetime PTSD severity can be biased in crime victims. Conclusions: These findings may suggest that resilience and coping strategies mediate the detrimental effects of childhood abuse on lifetime PTSD severity. Targeted treatments that are designed to enhance resilience as well as deter the use of dysfunctional coping strategies may be of help in crime victims with a history of childhood abuse.
KW - Childhood abuse
KW - Coping strategies
KW - Crime victims
KW - Post-traumatic stress disorder
KW - Resilience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108059982&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105154
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105154
M3 - Article
C2 - 34147941
AN - SCOPUS:85108059982
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 118
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
M1 - 105154
ER -