How Do Early Childhood Trauma and Stressful Life Events Impact Emotion Dysregulation?
Faculty Mentor
Sara Haden
Major/Area of Research
Psychology
Description
INTRODUCTION: Childhood maltreatment, poverty exposure, and neighborhood discord are associated with increased risk for adult perpetrated violence. Research shows that exposure to poverty during adolescence and to neighborhood discord are linked to the development of aggressive and maladaptive behaviors that persist into adulthood. However, these factors are often examined separately, despite evidence that they frequently operate together within the cycle of violence. This study examines the effects of economic stress and neighborhood discord on the relationship between childhood trauma and adult-perpetrated violence.
METHOD: 546 students participated in this study and earned course credit. The sample was ethnically diverse and predominantly female (76.7%). Participants completed self-report measures used to assess childhood trauma (ETI), neighborhood discord (CSI), economic stress (MESA), and perpetration of intimate partner violence (CTS).
RESULTS: Significant correlations were found such that greater child trauma was related to less economic stress (r= -.41**), greater neighborhood discord (r = .39**), and greater physical interpersonal violence (r = .21**). A preliminary moderated moderation model was tested assessing the direct effects of early trauma, neighborhood discord, and economic stress on interpersonal violence along with their interaction effects. The model was significant and explained 9% in the variance of physical violence. While no direct effects were significant, early trauma and neighborhood discord interacted to affect increased violence and a 3-way interaction also emerged with economic stress. The effect of neighborhood discord showed that as it increased, early trauma predicted greater physical violence. The 3-way interaction suggested that when neighborhood disorder was high, economic stress predicted greater violence under conditions of greater early trauma.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The roles of structural variables like stress related to money and characteristics of one’s neighborhood are important to consider when evaluating the cycle of violence.
How Do Early Childhood Trauma and Stressful Life Events Impact Emotion Dysregulation?
INTRODUCTION: Childhood maltreatment, poverty exposure, and neighborhood discord are associated with increased risk for adult perpetrated violence. Research shows that exposure to poverty during adolescence and to neighborhood discord are linked to the development of aggressive and maladaptive behaviors that persist into adulthood. However, these factors are often examined separately, despite evidence that they frequently operate together within the cycle of violence. This study examines the effects of economic stress and neighborhood discord on the relationship between childhood trauma and adult-perpetrated violence.
METHOD: 546 students participated in this study and earned course credit. The sample was ethnically diverse and predominantly female (76.7%). Participants completed self-report measures used to assess childhood trauma (ETI), neighborhood discord (CSI), economic stress (MESA), and perpetration of intimate partner violence (CTS).
RESULTS: Significant correlations were found such that greater child trauma was related to less economic stress (r= -.41**), greater neighborhood discord (r = .39**), and greater physical interpersonal violence (r = .21**). A preliminary moderated moderation model was tested assessing the direct effects of early trauma, neighborhood discord, and economic stress on interpersonal violence along with their interaction effects. The model was significant and explained 9% in the variance of physical violence. While no direct effects were significant, early trauma and neighborhood discord interacted to affect increased violence and a 3-way interaction also emerged with economic stress. The effect of neighborhood discord showed that as it increased, early trauma predicted greater physical violence. The 3-way interaction suggested that when neighborhood disorder was high, economic stress predicted greater violence under conditions of greater early trauma.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The roles of structural variables like stress related to money and characteristics of one’s neighborhood are important to consider when evaluating the cycle of violence.