Background

Experiences of maltreatment in childhood, such as abuse and neglect, have been associated with poorer psychological well-being in adulthood, including elevated risk of revictimization and increased likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Maltreatment has also been associated with reduced resources related to resilience, such as optimism, which may act as a protective factor for mental health.

Objectives

In this study, we examined the mediating role of dispositional optimism in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD symptom severity from recent trauma in a sample of adults (n = 108) who presented to their local emergency department following trauma.

Methods

We analyzed six models to account for cumulative childhood maltreatment as well as five primary subtypes of maltreatment: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect.

Results

Greater dispositional optimism mediated relations between total maltreatment and decreased PTSD severity (B_ab = .056, SE = .029, 95 % CI [.009, .121]). Optimism also mediated relations between all maltreatment subtypes and PTSD severity, except sexual abuse.

Conclusions

These results may suggest optimism and positive psychology interventions as effective techniques in reducing the likelihood of PTSD development and severity in trauma-exposed individuals.

中文翻译：

---

性格乐观在创伤暴露的成年人中调解童年虐待与 PTSD 症状严重程度之间的关系

背景

童年时期的虐待经历，例如虐待和忽视，与成年后较差的心理健康有关，包括再次受害的风险增加和出现创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 症状的可能性增加。虐待还与恢复力相关的资源减少有关，例如乐观情绪，这可能是心理健康的保护因素。

目标

在这项研究中，我们检查了在创伤后到当地急诊室就诊的成年人（n = 108）样本中，性格乐观主义在儿童期虐待与近期创伤导致的 PTSD 症状严重程度之间的关系中的中介作用。

方法

我们分析了六个模型来解释累积的童年虐待以及五个主要的虐待亚型：情感虐待、身体虐待、性虐待、情感忽视和身体忽视。

结果

更大的性格乐观介导了总体虐待与降低的 PTSD 严重程度之间的关系（B _ab = .056, SE = .029, 95 % CI [.009, .121]）。除性虐待外，乐观主义还调节了所有虐待亚型与 PTSD 严重程度之间的关系。

结论

这些结果可能表明乐观和积极的心理干预是降低创伤暴露个体发生 PTSD 的可能性和严重程度的有效技术。