Childhood abuse: warmth from a mother figure linked to resilience in adulthood

Feeling emotionally close to a mother figure as a teenager, and spending fewer hours on sedentary pastimes, are both associated with better adult functioning among people abused as children. The findings come from a team at the Shanghai Mental Health Center and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, published in the journal Stress and Health.

Among participants who reported heavy abuse in childhood, the researchers, led by Yuxiao Zhao, identified one group that did well as adults on both psychological and social measures. It accounted for about 13% of the whole sample.

Data on 5,112 people

The analysis relied on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Its 5,112 participants were first surveyed aged 11 to 21 and followed until they were between 24 and 33.

In the adult phase, they were asked whether a caregiver had abused them emotionally, physically or sexually before they turned 18. The questions ranged from being made to feel unloved or unwanted, to being struck or knocked to the ground, to forced sexual contact.

Physical health was measured during home visits by trained interviewers, who took each participant’s blood pressure, pulse, waist measurement and body mass index, along with blood samples tested for cholesterol, glucose and immune-system markers. The team folded these readings into one cardiometabolic risk score.

Depression was gauged with a standardised questionnaire about mood during the past seven days, while education and personal income served as indicators of social functioning.

Five adult profiles

A statistical method known as latent profile analysis sorted participants into five profiles. The largest by far showed little risk and good results in adult life.

In a second profile, abuse levels were low, yet adults in it had elevated depression and earned less. A third, small group stood out: despite reporting only moderate abuse, its members fared worst on every biological, psychological and social indicator.

They had also lived with significant financial strain at home as adolescents. The authors suggest that money hardship and abuse together may harm several physical and mental systems at once.

Both remaining profiles involved severe abuse. Adults in one had weak mental health and social outcomes; those in the other, the resilient 13%, functioned well.

Screens, sport and mothers

Turning to the adolescent data, the researchers found that girls, and teenagers whose families had lower incomes, were at greater risk of landing in the profiles marked by weak mental and social functioning.

Hours spent watching television or videos and on computer games were linked to a higher likelihood of poor outcomes later. Sports participation, recorded separately, offered no such protection, which the authors take to mean that sedentary time carries risk independently rather than simply reflecting a lack of exercise.

At home, what counted was warmth. Teenagers who described an emotionally close relationship with their mother or a mother figure were considerably more likely to belong to the resilient group as adults. By contrast, the amount of time parents and children spent together and how often they talked showed no comparable effect.

According to the authors, the results point to particular daily habits and aspects of family life on which support for at-risk adolescents could focus.