The mediating role of impulsivity in the associations between child maltreatment types and past month substance use

The relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and adolescent internalizing problems: The mediating role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

BACKGROUND

While childhood maltreatment is understood to be a significant risk factor for adolescent internalizing problems (depression and anxiety), underlying mechanisms linking each type of maltreatment to internalizing problems in adolescents remain unclear. Moreover, the current state of knowledge regarding the associations between maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and each type of maltreatment, as well as their impact on adolescent internalizing problems, is limited. Additionally, it remains unclear whether these maladaptive strategies mediate this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to investigate the effects of childhood maltreatment types on adolescent internalizing problems and to explore whether the overall and specific types of maladaptive strategies mediate these associations.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional design, adolescents (N = 7071, Mage = 14.05 years, SDage = 1.54) completed online questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment, maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (including rumination, catastrophizing, self-blame, and other-blame), anxiety, and depression. The hypothesized mediating effects were tested using the Lavaan package in R software (4.1.2).

RESULTS

Different maltreatment types had varying effects on adolescent internalizing problems. Emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse significantly affected anxiety and depression, whereas physical neglect and physical abuse did not. Other than physical neglect and physical abuse, overall maladaptive strategies mediated the relationship between the other three types of maltreatment (emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse) and internalizing problems (anxiety and depression). For specific maladaptive strategies, rumination mediated the effects of physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse on internalizing problems (anxiety and depression). In contrast, catastrophizing mediated the relationship between physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, sexual abuse and internalizing problems (anxiety and depression).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the effects of maltreatment types on internalizing problems are different and that maladaptive strategies, particularly rumination and catastrophizing, are important mechanisms through which childhood maltreatment affects internalizing problems. This is a reminder that mental health workers need to consider the different effects of maltreatment types when intervening and recognize the importance of prioritizing interventions for rumination and catastrophizing.

An examination of questioning methods and the influence of child maltreatment on paediatric pain assessments: Perspectives of healthcare providers

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Children with a history of maltreatment have underestimated and undertreated pain; however, it is unknown if healthcare providers consider maltreatment when assessing children's pain. The current study aimed to address this issue by investigating healthcare providers' pain assessment practices, and specifically, their consideration of child maltreatment.

METHOD

Healthcare providers (N = 100) completed a survey, asking them to reflect upon their pediatric pain assessment practices (e.g., methods and questions used to assess pain) through self-report and case vignette questions.

RESULTS

Participants who received continuing education about child maltreatment were more likely to consider maltreatment in several areas of their pediatric pain assessment practice, whereas participants who received continuing education about pediatric pain, were not. Participants were also more likely to report that they would consider maltreatment in vignette responses than in questions regarding their daily practice.

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate healthcare providers use multidimensional methods when assessing children's pain, although it is unclear when or how they use open-ended vs. option posing questions. Healthcare providers also tended to consider the effects of child maltreatment on children's ability to communicate their pain more so when the history of maltreatment was known to them.

The Effect of Childhood Poly-Victimization on Adulthood Aggression: The Mediating Role of Different Impulsivity Traits

This study investigated the effect of the poly-victimization pattern of traumatic childhood experiences on aggression via the impulsivity traits positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and sensation-seeking in 102 poly-victims of childhood trauma (71.57% were females; Mage = 35.76; SDage = 15.91). Analyses with poly-victimization as an independent variable, impulsivity traits as parallel mediators, (1) reactive aggression or (2) proactive aggression as dependent variables, and gender as a covariate revealed that the poly-victimization did not have a direct or indirect effect on reactive or proactive aggression, nor did it have an effect on any of the impulsivity traits. Moreover, lack of premeditation had a positive direct effect on reactive aggression, while gender was a significant covariate in both models, with males reporting more aggression than females. Findings suggest that the poly-victimization does not influence impulsivity traits and aggression in adulthood. However, in males, the poly-victimization had a positive and moderate correlation with reactive aggression and negative urgency, while these correlations were absent in females. This finding implies that males are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of childhood poly-victimization than females.

The interplay of childhood trauma, oxytocin, and impulsivity in predicting the onset of methamphetamine use

BACKGROUND

Childhood trauma is associated with substance use disorders, including methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). Oxytocin, involved in social bonding, stress regulation, and reward processing, may influence addiction vulnerability and impulsivity in individuals with a history of childhood trauma.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationships among childhood trauma, oxytocin levels, impulsivity, and the age of first methamphetamine use in individuals with MUD.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The study included 298 male participants (148 individuals with MUD and 150 healthy controls) from both probation offices and psychiatric clinics.

METHODS

Childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), impulsivity with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), and plasma oxytocin levels were obtained.

RESULTS

Individuals with MUD exhibited higher levels of childhood trauma, impulsivity, and lower plasma oxytocin levels compared to healthy controls. Childhood trauma was associated with a younger age of first methamphetamine use, higher impulsivity, and lower oxytocin levels among individuals with MUD. Plasma oxytocin levels partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and both the age of first methamphetamine use and impulsivity. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that oxytocin levels and impulsivity sequentially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and the age of first methamphetamine use.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings reveal the complex interplay among childhood trauma, oxytocin, impulsivity, and methamphetamine use, emphasizing the importance of considering these factors in prevention and intervention strategies for MUD. Future research should explore oxytocin and impulsivity-focused interventions to mitigate the effects of childhood trauma and reduce MUD development risk.