Deprivation and threat, coping, and psychopathology: Concurrent and longitudinal associations

• In Event: 2-147 - Is there more to childhood adversity than cumulative stress? Distinguishing threat/ deprivation in large-scale studies

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Exposure to early adversity greatly increases the risk for psychopathology, with early adversity predicting 45% of all childhood-onset mental disorders and 26% to 32% of later-onset disorders (Green et al., 2010). One potential mechanism underlying this association that has been linked with both psychopathology (Cline et al., 2015) and early adversity exposure (Gabrielli et al., 2018) is coping. The present study (1) describes differences in adolescent coping strategy use as a function of early adversity exposure, particularly the differential roles of deprivation and threat (Sheridan & McLaughlin, 2014) in predicting subsequent coping in high-risk adolescents and (2) tests the mediating role of coping, particularly avoidance, in the association between early adversity and later symptoms of psychopathology.

Sample and Methods. Adolescents (N = 866) were participants in LONGSCAN, a consortium of studies located at multiple sites in various regions of the United States. At each site, a sample of children who had been maltreated or were at risk of maltreatment was recruited. Assessments of children and caregivers were conducted at ages 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 18. At age 4 and 6, deprivation was measured via child protective service data indicating exposure to neglect and via caregiver reports of family income. Exposure to threat was measured via (1) child protective service data indicating exposure to physical and/or sexual abuse, (2) child-reports of violence exposure in the home, (3) the caregiver-report Conflict Tactics Scale, and (4) teacher-report school safety. At age 18, adolescent coping was assessed via the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (ACOPE; Patterson & McCubbin, 1987); while psychopathology was measured via the Young Adult DISC-IV (Shaffer et al., 2000).

Hypotheses. We hypothesized that greater levels of threat would be associated with an increase use in avoidance and poorer coping overall. Second, we expected that threat exposure would continue to predict adolescent coping, particularly avoidance, even after accounting for other child- and family-related factors. Third, we hypothesized that avoidance would mediate the association between early adversity and psychopathology.

Results. Avoidant coping differed significantly by threat exposure, with higher threat exposure being associated with more avoidance (Table 1). Next, we estimated mediation models to examine the direct effect of early adversity on adolescent psychopathology and the indirect effect of early adversity on psychopathology through coping strategies. We analyzed mediational models predicting both internalizing (i.e., depression and anxiety) and externalizing (i.e., conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) symptomatology. For depression, the direct effect of exposure to threat on adolescent major depressive disorder was reduced once the mediational pathway was estimated (Figure 1). The indirect effect of exposure to threat on adolescent major depressive disorder was significant (p = .025). Similar results were obtained for anxiety; in contrast, avoidance did not serve as a mediator for the externalizing outcomes.

Discussion. Exposure to threat, but not deprivation, predicts the use of avoidant coping, with higher levels of threat predicting more avoidance. Moreover, avoidant coping may partially explain why differences in psychopathology are observed between adolescents exposed to higher versus lower threat.

Authors

• Helen Milojevich, UNC Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Kate E Norwalk, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Margaret Sheridan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author