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Emotion Regulation Mediates the Relationship between a History of Child Abuse and Current PTSD/Depression Severity in Adolescent Females

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Abstract

Although experiencing child abuse (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, exposure to violence) is associated with a variety of mental health difficulties, simple exposure to abuse does not produce symptoms in every individual. The current study explored emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between a history of child abuse and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Adolescent females (ages 11–17 years) were asked to retrospectively report on their exposure to child abuse, current symptoms of PTSD/depression, and emotion regulation abilities. Caregiver report of adolescent emotional difficulties was also obtained. Analyses revealed that child abuse-exposed females, when compared to females without a trauma history, had worse emotion regulation abilities and increased mental health difficulties. Moreover, emotion regulation significantly mediated the relationship between child abuse and all assessed mental health symptoms. These findings extend previous work from adult samples, underscoring the importance of assessing emotion regulation abilities in abuse-exposed youth.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by grants MH097784 and DA036360 from the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Sufna G. John & Benjamin A. Sigel

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Josh M. Cisler

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  1. Sufna G. John
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John, S.G., Cisler, J.M. & Sigel, B.A. Emotion Regulation Mediates the Relationship between a History of Child Abuse and Current PTSD/Depression Severity in Adolescent Females. J Fam Viol 32, 565–575 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-017-9914-7

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