This study investigated links between childhood maltreatment (CM), perceived stress, coping strategies, and physical health problems among adult women. There is mounting evidence to suggest that perceived stress and coping strategies help to explain the association between CM and physical health outcomes. However, research has yet to clarify the precise mechanisms through which stress and coping independently, and in combination, predict the health concerns of victimized women. Through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), support was found for a model in which perceived stress partially mediated the association between CM and physical health problems. While emotion-focused coping was also found to partially mediate the CM-health relationship, problem-focused and avoidance coping did not. A moderated mediation model revealed that each coping strategy moderated the impact of maltreatment, but not of perceived stress, on physical health. Multi-mediation model testing indicated that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress better explain the relationship between CM and health than either variable on its own, and that this coping strategy fully accounted for the link between CM and subsequent stress. Finally, multivariate regression analyses revealed that child physical abuse was uniquely associated with greater physical symptoms, and child psychological maltreatment had a unique link with functional impairment; however, no form of abuse uniquely explained health care utilization. Findings suggest that child maltreatment is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that stress and coping strategies are important mechanisms in this relationship. Implications for clinicians, medical professionals, and researchers are discussed. This study investigated links between childhood maltreatment (CM), perceived stress, coping strategies, and physical health problems among adult women. There is mounting evidence to suggest that perceived stress and coping strategies help to explain the association between CM and physical health outcomes. However, research has yet to clarify the precise mechanisms through which stress and coping independently, and in combination, predict the health concerns of victimized women. Through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), support was found for a model in which perceived stress partially mediated the association between CM and physical health problems. While emotion-focused coping was also found to partially mediate the CM-health relationship, problem-focused and avoidance coping did not. A moderated mediation model revealed that each coping strategy moderated the impact of maltreatment, but not of perceived stress, on physical health. Multi-mediation model testing indicated that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress better explain the relationship between CM and health than either variable on its own, and that this coping strategy fully accounted for the link between CM and subsequent stress. Finally, multivariate regression analyses revealed that child physical abuse was uniquely associated with greater physical symptoms, and child psychological maltreatment had a unique link with functional impairment; however, no form of abuse uniquely explained health care utilization. Findings suggest that child maltreatment is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that stress and coping strategies are important mechanisms in this relationship. Implications for clinicians, medical professionals, and researchers are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/2021 |
| Date | 23 December 2009 |
| Creators | Hager, Alanna D. |
| Contributors | Runtz, Marsha |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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