Background

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are typically assessed within two subscales: child maltreatment (CM) and household dysfunction (HD). More research is needed about how the CM and HD subscales differentially contribute to adult posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), accounting for additional adversities.

Objective, participants, and setting

In a sample of 137 pregnant women exposed to recent intimate partner violence (IPV) in the United States, this study aimed to (1) explore the contributions of ACEs subscales to pregnant women's PTSS severity, (2) examine the inclusion of the witnessing IPV ACE in the CM subscale, and (3) contextualize the contributions of the ACEs subscales to women's PTSS by examining the moderating effect of age of first ACE exposure.

Methods

The study used linear, multiple, and hierarchical regression analyses and the Hotelling-Williams test.

Results

The CM subscale predicted pregnant women's PTSS significantly better than the HD subscale, controlling for past-year IPV (t(134) = 2.69, p = .008). Adding the witnessing IPV ACE to the CM subscale did not significantly improve the subscale's prediction of PTSS (ΔR² = 0.07, p = .290). Age of first exposure did not significantly moderate the effects of the CM (β = 0.12, p = .140) or HD (β = −0.10, p = .238) ACEs subscales on PTSS.

Conclusions

Results suggest that for pregnant women exposed to high levels of trauma, polyvictimization and particularly experiencing multiple types of CM have stronger predictive validity for PTSS than HD. Cumulative victimization may be more influential than age of exposure to adversity.

中文翻译：

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阐明孕妇不良童年经历、逆境年龄和成人创伤后应激症状严重程度之间的关系

背景

不良童年经历 (ACE) 通常在两个分量表中进行评估：儿童虐待 (CM) 和家庭功能障碍 (HD)。需要更多的研究来了解 CM 和 HD 分量表如何对成人创伤后应激症状 (PTSS) 产生不同影响，从而解释额外的逆境。

目标、参与者和环境

在美国最近遭受亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 的 137 名孕妇样本中，本研究旨在 (1) 探索 ACE 分量表对孕妇 PTSS 严重程度的贡献，(2) 检查是否包含目击 IPV CM 子量表中的 ACE，以及​​ (3) 通过检查首次接触 ACE 的年龄的调节作用，将 ACE 子量表对女性 PTSS 的贡献背景化。

方法

该研究使用了线性、多元和层次回归分析以及Hotelling-Williams 检验。

结果

CM 子量表预测孕妇的 PTSS 明显优于 HD 子量表，控制了过去一年的 IPV ( t (134) = 2.69, p  = .008)。将见证 IPV ACE 添加到 CM 子量表并没有显着改善子量表对 PTSS 的预测（ΔR ²  = 0.07，p  = .290）。首次接触年龄并未显着缓和 CM（β = 0.12，p  = .140）或 HD（β = −0.10，p  = .238）ACE 分量表对 PTSS 的影响。

结论

结果表明，对于暴露于高水平创伤、多重受害，尤其是经历多种类型 CM 的孕妇，其对 PTSS 的预测有效性比 HD 更强。累积的受害可能比暴露于逆境的年龄更有影响力。