Child maltreatment severity and adult trauma symptoms: Does perceived social support play a buffering role?

Abstract

Objectives The current study investigates the moderating effect of perceived social support on associations between child maltreatment severity and adult trauma symptoms. We extend the existing literature by examining the roles of severity of multiple maltreatment types (i.e., sexual, physical, and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect) and gender in this process. Methods The sample included 372 newlywed individuals recruited from marriage license records. Participants completed a number of self-report questionnaires measuring the nature and severity of child maltreatment history, perceived social support from friends and family, and trauma-related symptoms. These questionnaires were part of a larger study, investigating marital and intrapersonal functioning. We conducted separate, two-step hierarchical multiple regression models for perceived social support from family and perceived social support from friends. In each of these models, total trauma symptomatology was predicted from each child maltreatment severity variable, perceived social support, and the product of the two variables. In order to examine the role of gender, we conducted separate analyses for women and men. Results As hypothesized, increased severity of several maltreatment types (sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect) predicted greater trauma symptoms for both women and men, and increased physical abuse severity predicted greater trauma symptoms for women. Perceived social support from both family and friends predicted lower trauma symptoms across all levels of maltreatment for men. For women, greater perceived social support from friends, but not from family, predicted decreased trauma symptoms. Finally, among women, perceived social support from family interacted with child maltreatment such that, as the severity of maltreatment (physical and emotional abuse, emotional neglect) increased, the buffering effect of perceived social support from family on trauma symptoms diminished. Conclusions The results of the current study shed new light on the potential for social support to shield individuals against long-term trauma symptoms, and suggest the importance of strengthening perceptions of available social support when working with adult survivors of child maltreatment.

Childhood exposure to family violence and adult trauma symptoms: The importance of social support from a spouse.

“…Rather, similar to studies of positive social support (e.g., Evans et al, 2013), negative social support showed no effect on trauma symptoms at higher levels of abuse severity. Negative support's lack of effect in the presence of more severe multitype abuse may indicate that once child maltreatment experiences have reached a certain threshold, day-to-day negative support interactions with a spouse do not worsen the survivor's trauma symptoms.…”

“…Despite evidence suggesting that spousal support moderates associations between early violence exposure and long-term functioning, recent studies indicate that the buffering effects of positive support may be limited to cases in which individuals are exposed to less severe, less frequent, or fewer types of violence (Evans, Steel, & DiLillo, 2013;Folger & Wright, 2013). For example, Salazar, Keller, and Courtney (2011) found that self-reported positive social support buffered against depressive symptoms only among individuals reporting fewer types of child maltreatment.…”

Child Maltreatment and Illicit Substance Abuse: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Longitudinal Studies

“…Evans et al . () found that an increased severity of several maltreatment types predicted greater trauma symptoms for both women and men. The degree of severity may be evaluated by the instruments used to identify childhood trauma (Bernstein et al, ).…”

From Childhood Maltreatment to Allostatic Load in Adulthood

“…For those with low levels of perceived social support, intervention efforts may be most effective if they focus on assisting individuals in identifying sources of support in the hopes that this will lead to strengthened perceptions of support. This may involve not only increasing skills in inviting support from others but also addressing symptoms often present as a result of exposure to traumatic experiences, such as avoidance, emotional numbing, and feelings of detachment (Evans, Steele, & DiLillo, 2013). A number of interventions have been identified as effective means of enhancing perceived and received social support (Spilsbury & Korbin, 2013; Steese et al, 2005).…”