Effects of maltreatment on coping and emotion regulation in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

BackgroundChild maltreatment is consistently linked to adverse mental and physical health problems, making the identification of risk and resilience processes crucial for prevention efforts. The ways that individuals cope and regulate emotions in response to stress may buffer against pre-existing risk, while deficits in these processes have the potential to amplify risk. Thus, a candidate mechanism to explain the association between early-life abuse and neglect and later maladjustment is the way in which previously-maltreated youth respond to stress throughout development. ObjectiveThe current review provides a quantitative analysis of the impact of early-life maltreatment on coping and emotion regulation processes during childhood and adolescence (5–18 years). MethodsThirty-five studies (N = 11,344) met criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Effect sizes were calculated between maltreatment and broad domains (e.g., "emotion dysregulation"), intermediate factors (e.g., "problem-focused coping"), and specific strategies (e.g., "emotional suppression") of coping and emotion regulation. ResultsMaltreatment was significantly related to decreased emotion regulation (r = −.24, p < .001) and increased emotion dysregulation (r = .28, p < .001) at the domain level. No significant findings emerged at the factor level. At the strategy level, maltreatment was significantly related to increased avoidance (r = .25, p < .001), emotional suppression (r = .24, p < .001), and emotional expression (r = .25, p < .001). ConclusionsResults indicate that maltreatment is broadly associated with poor emotion regulation as well as increased avoidance, emotional suppression, and expression of negative emotions in response to stress. Implications of these findings are discussed and an agenda for future research is proposed.