Early life adverse experiences and loneliness among young adults: The mediating role of social processes.

Loneliness has been described as endemic among young people. Such feelings of social isolation 'even in a crowd' are likely linked to adverse early life experiences that serve to diminish perceptions of social support and intensify negative social interactions. It was suggested in the present series of survey studies that childhood abuse, which compromises a child's sense of safety in relationships, may affect social processes that contribute to loneliness in young adulthood. Study 1 assessed different adverse childhood and adult experiences in relation to loneliness among young adults (N = 171). Linear regression analyses indicated that childhood abuse was uniquely associated with greater loneliness, and this relationship was partially mediated by the perceived availability of social support. Study 2 (N = 289) assessed different forms of childhood abuse and demonstrated that early life emotional abuse was a unique predictor of loneliness, and this relationship was fully mediated by lower perceived support or value in social connections (social connectedness) and more frequent unsupportive interactions with friends. Study 3 evaluated the implications of the age of occurrence of abuse (N = 566). Both emotional and sexual abuse predicted young adult loneliness regardless of age; abuse that was recalled to have occurred at very early ages (0-5 years) was not predictive of loneliness over and above consideration of events that happened in older childhood. These relationships were at least partially mediated by perceived social support, social connectedness, and in the case of emotional abuse, unsupportive interactions with friends. Our results add to mounting evidence pointing to the prevalence of loneliness among young adults and the links to adverse early life experiences that may serve to shape appraisals of safety, value, and personal worth in social relationships.

Resilience: Safety in the Aftermath of Traumatic Stressor Experiences.

The relationship between adverse experiences and the emergence of pathology has often focused on characteristics of the stressor or of the individual (stressor appraisals, coping strategies). These features are thought to influence multiple biological processes that favor the development of mental and physical illnesses. Less often has attention focused on the aftermath of traumatic experiences, and the importance of safety and reassurance that is necessary for longer-term well-being. In some cases (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) this may be reflected by a failure of fear extinction, whereas in other instances (e.g., historical trauma), the uncertainty about the future might foster continued anxiety. In essence, the question becomes one of how individuals attain feelings of safety when it is fully understood that the world is not necessarily a safe place, uncertainties abound, and feelings of agency are often illusory. We consider how individuals acquire resilience in the aftermath of traumatic and chronic stressors. In this respect, we review characteristics of stressors that may trigger particular biological and behavioral coping responses, as well as factors that undermine their efficacy. To this end, we explore stressor dynamics and social processes that foster resilience in response to specific traumatic, chronic, and uncontrollable stressor contexts (intimate partner abuse; refugee migration; collective historical trauma). We point to resilience factors that may comprise neurobiological changes, such as those related to various stressor-provoked hormones, neurotrophins, inflammatory immune, microbial, and epigenetic processes. These behavioral and biological stress responses may influence, and be influenced by, feelings of safety that come about through relationships with others, spiritual and place-based connections.

Social support and unsupportive interactions in relation to depressive symptoms: Implication of gender and the BDNF polymorphism.

Reduced levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), through its role in neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, may be involved in the evolution and maintenance of depression. Depression has also been tied to fewer social relationships, which can vary by gender. Thus, we assessed whether the functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the BDNF gene, Val66Met, moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and perceived social support and unsupportive relationships, and whether these associations differed by gender. Among 945 students, (n = 667 females; n= 278 males), depressive scores were inversely related to social support, and positively related with unsupportive relations. Females reported greater social support and depressive scores compared to males. A3-way interaction was found between unsupportive relations, the Val66Met SNP, and gender, such that irrespective of genotype, females displayed astrong relationship between unsupport and depressive scores. Male Met carriers displayed this relationship, but this was less apparent among males with the Val/Val genotype. The Val66Met SNP did not moderate the link between support and depressive scores. This BDNF SNP may serve to moderate the links between psychosocial factors and depressive symptoms, but such links are nuanced, being gender-dependent and varying with the nature of the social interactions experienced.

Can coders abstract child maltreatment variables from child welfare administrative data and case narratives for public health surveillance in Canada?

BACKGROUND: Public health surveillance is essential to inform programs that aim to eradicate child maltreatment (CM) and to provide services to children and families. However, collection of CM data imposes a burden on child welfare workers (CWWs). This study assesses the feasibility of hiring coders to abstract the required information from administrative records and case narratives. METHODS: Based on a convenience sample of child welfare data from Manitoba, Canada, two coders abstracted information on 181 alleged CM cases. The coders completed a short web-based questionnaire for each case to identify which of five types of CM had been investigated, level of substantiation for each type, and risk of future CM. The CWWs responsible for each case completed the same questionnaire. Percentages of the occurrence of CM by the three sources were compared. The validity of the coders' classifications was assessed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, against the CWWs' classifications as the "gold standard." Cohen's kappa was also calculated. RESULTS: The coders' classifications of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect generally matched those of CWWs; for exposure to intimate partner violence, agreement was weak for one coder. Coding of emotional maltreatment and risk investigations could not be evaluated. CONCLUSION: Results were promising. Abstraction was not time-consuming. Differences between coders and CWWs can be largely explained by the administrative data system, child welfare practice, and legislation. Further investigation is required to determine if additional training could improve coders' classifications of CM.