Abstract
While adverse childhood experiences have been shown to contribute to adverse health outcomes in adulthood, specifically distress and somatic symptoms, few studies have examined their joint effects with resilient coping style on adult adjustment. Hence, we aim to determine the association between resilient coping and distress in participants with and without reported childhood adversities. A representative German community sample (N = 2508) between 14–92 years (1334 women; 1174 men) was examined by the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Brief Resilience Coping Scale, standardized scales of distress and somatoform symptoms. Childhood adversity was associated with reduced adjustment, social support and resilience. It was also strongly associated with increased distress and somatoform complaints. Resilient coping was not only associated with lower distress, it also buffered the effects of childhood adversity on distress. Our study corroborates the buffering effect of resilience in a representative German sample. High trait resilient subjects show less distress and somatoform symptoms despite reported childhood adversities in comparison to those with low resilient coping abilities.
Highlights
Childhood maltreatment has been increasingly recognized as a major public health problem in high-income countries [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Consequences of adverse experiences depend on the developmental phase of the individual; most serious consequences are expected from adverse childhood experiences during formative early childhood periods of biological
In order to test our hypothesis that resilience buffers the adverse effects of childhood adversity on distress, we examined the effects of high vs. low childhood adversity and high vs. low resilience on distress and somatic symptoms (Table 3, Fig 1)
Summary
Childhood maltreatment has been increasingly recognized as a major public health problem in high-income countries [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Adverse childhood experiences comprise acts of commission of sexual, physical, emotional abuse as well as acts of omission such as emotional and physical neglect and witnessing intimate partner violence [1, 7]. The experience of being harmed by persons who should provide support and protection leads to severe neurobiological, somatic and mental damage in the developing child, compromising the ability to cope with somatic and psychic stressors throughout lifespan [8]. Adverse childhood experiences have been associated to multiple adverse somatic and mental diseases in adulthood, maladjustment and an unhealthy life style [1, 9,10,11]. Consequences of adverse experiences depend on the developmental phase of the individual; most serious consequences are expected from adverse childhood experiences during formative early childhood periods of biological.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
