Features of Childhood Maltreatment and Resilience Capacity in Adulthood: Results from a Large Community-Based Sample.

ABSTRACT

Childhood maltreatment is consistently associated with poor outcomes. However, few epidemiological studies have examined the association between childhood maltreatment and adult resilience capacity, defined as one's perceived ability to cope successfully with challenges. This study aimed to determine associations between adult resilience capacity and specific types and features of childhood maltreatment. Participants were African American adults recruited from a public urban hospital in Atlanta, GA (N = 1,962) between 2005 and 2013. Childhood maltreatment, including witnessing domestic violence or physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, was assessed retrospectively using the Traumatic Events Inventory. Perceived resilience capacity was assessed using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Linear regressions were performed assessing the association between resilience capacity and childhood maltreatment exposure in general, as well as specific dimensions of exposure, including type, co-occurrence, and developmental timing, adjusting for covariates. Participants exposed to any maltreatment reported lower resilience capacity than unexposed peers, B = -0.38, SE = 0.04, p < .001. All maltreatment types were negatively associated with resilience capacity, even after adjusting for other lifetime trauma exposure. Only emotional abuse remained significantly associated with resilience capacity after accounting for current psychological distress, B = -0.11, SE = 0.05, p = .022. Maltreatment co-occurrence followed an inverse dose-response relationship with resilience capacity For each additional maltreatment type, scores decreased by 0.18 units (SD = 0.02), p < .001. Finally, the developmental timing of maltreatment did not reveal any differential influences on resilience capacity. The results suggest that childhood emotional abuse and co-occurrence of maltreatment types may be particularly deleterious to adult resilience capacity.