Posttraumatic stress symptoms mediate the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, avoidant personality traits and resilience. 2020

Bethan Rawlins, and Matthew Brooks, and Roxanne Khan
School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Manchester, UK.

Background and Objectives: It is widely recognized that posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, resulting from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), have a myriad of detrimental effects on the wellbeing of sufferers. Yet the extent to which PTS symptoms mediate positive and negative outcomes is less well-known. This study, therefore, explored whether PTS symptoms indirectly explain avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) traits and resilience following multiple ACEs. Design: A correlational design using mediation analyses was conducted. Method: One-hundred and seventy-seven participants (68.4% female; aged 18-73 years) completed an online survey measuring experiences of childhood adversity, AVPD traits, resilience, and PTS symptoms. Results: The pathway from ACEs to AVPD mediated by PTS symptoms was both positive and significant. The indirect relationship from ACEs to resilience was also significantly and negatively mediated by PTS symptoms. Of the PTS dimensions, avoidance and hyperarousal mediated the relationship between the number of ACEs and AVPD traits, while intrusions mediated the association between the number of ACEs and resilience. Conclusions: These findings indicate that PTS symptoms can have both detrimental and adaptive effects on psychological wellbeing. Treatment and management of PTS symptoms is, therefore, key to the improvement of overall psychological functioning following ACEs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D010554 Personality Disorders A major deviation from normal patterns of behavior. Avoidant Personality Disorder,Impulse-Ridden Personality,Inadequate Personality,Avoidant Personality Disorders,Impulse Ridden Personality,Personality Disorder,Personality Disorder, Avoidant,Personality Disorders, Avoidant,Personality, Impulse-Ridden,Personality, Inadequate
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000076783 Adverse Childhood Experiences Deleterious experiences in first 18 years of life. Adolescent Trauma,Childhood Trauma,Early Life Stress,Early-Life Stress,Traumatic Childhood Experiences,Adolescent Traumas,Adverse Childhood Experience,Childhood Experience, Adverse,Childhood Experience, Traumatic,Childhood Experiences, Adverse,Childhood Experiences, Traumatic,Childhood Traumas,Early Life Stresses,Early-Life Stresses,Experience, Traumatic Childhood,Experiences, Traumatic Childhood,Life Stress, Early,Life Stresses, Early,Stress, Early Life,Stress, Early-Life,Stresses, Early Life,Stresses, Early-Life,Trauma, Adolescent,Trauma, Childhood,Traumas, Adolescent,Traumas, Childhood,Traumatic Childhood Experience
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly

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