Childhood maltreatment and provision of support and strain to family relationships in adulthood: The role of social anxious and depressive symptoms

Résumé fourni par la source

Childhood maltreatment (CM) often occurs within the family system and can complicate familial relationships across the lifespan. Mental health problems may be one possible pathway linking CM to willingness to provide support and provisions of strain to family members. We advance this line of research by examining the degree to which CM shapes adults' understanding of how individual’s willingness to provide support to their family as well as enacted strain towards family members. Data were from the study of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS). Among the participants ( n = 568), the majority were White (91.2%), female (56.9%), and had a mean age of 51.5. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between CM, depressive and social anxiety symptoms, and support and strain. Results indicate two key findings: (1) Maltreatment is directly related to higher provisions of strain and lower perceived availability to support family members; (2) Symptoms of depression and social anxiety mediated the effect from maltreatment to enactments of strain towards family members, whereas the same finding did not hold for availability of support. Only depressive symptoms were identified as a pathway. Because families frequently are a source of CM, yet may remain connected in adulthood, these findings offer nuanced implications for addressing mental health and family wellbeing among who have experienced CM.

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