Impacts of childhood psychological maltreatment on adult mental health

Previous studies have shown the negative impacts of child abuse on mental health in later life. Compared to physical and sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment has received less attention. Emerging literature has explored the associations between psychological maltreatment on adult mental health. However, no systematic review or meta-analysis focuses on the associations between childhood psychological maltreatment and adult mental health while controlling for other adverse childhood experiences. In addition, there is a lack of measures in China that focus on assessing childhood psychological maltreatment in all its relevant dimensions. Further, limited studies have explored the associations between different types and profiles of childhood psychological maltreatment and its associations with adult mental health. Therefore, this thesis aims to fill these gaps by reviewing previous literature on childhood psychological maltreatment and adult mental health, translating and validating a measure that focuses on childhood psychological maltreatment for use in China, assessing the associations between different types of childhood psychological maltreatment and adult mental health, and exploring different profile patterns in Chinese and the UK populations of childhood psychological maltreatment and its associations on mental well-being. Chapter 1 provides a brief background to the existing literature on childhood psychological maltreatment and its associations with adult mental health outcomes. It also presents an overview of frequently used measures assessing childhood psychological maltreatment in China and the UK. In addition, this chapter demonstrates the key gaps in the previous literature. Chapter 2 uses a systematic review approach to review the previous literature on childhood psychological maltreatment and various adult mental health outcomes (i.e., depression and anxiety, eating disorders, personality disorders, suicidal ideation and attempts, substance abuse, and other psychological symptoms). It also reviews the comparison of the mental health outcomes between clinical populations and the general population on the prevalence of childhood psychological abuse and neglect. Meta-analyses are conducted on several themes (i.e., depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and clinical population) to explore the effects sizes of childhood psychological abuse on these mental health outcomes. Chapter 3 introduces, translates, and validates the Psychological Maltreatment Review (PMR) for the Chinese population. Factorial validity, internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and gender measurement invariance are assessed. Chapter 4, which builds on Chapters 2 and 3, uses the higher-order model to examine the associations between childhood psychological abuse, neglect, and non-support and various mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, and physical aggression). This chapter explores whether different types of childhood psychological maltreatment are more harmful than others, whether the harms associated with different types of psychological maltreatment are generalised or specific to particular domains of psychopathology, and whether there are gender invariances in these associations. Building on Chapter 4, which compares sub-dimensions of childhood psychological maltreatment, Chapter 5 explores the effects of different profiles of psychological maltreatment in the Chinese and the UK population. Various mental health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, and aggression, and broader well-being, such as self-esteem, are assessed. Lastly, Chapter 6 provides a general summary of the results from Chapters 2 – 5 and an overall discussion. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to understanding the associations between childhood psychological maltreatment and adult mental health. The empirical findings of this thesis emphasise the need to have policies that prevent psychological maltreatment and interventions that can address its psychological harms

The impact of childhood psychological maltreatment on mental health outcomes in adulthood:A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Research suggests that childhood psychological maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse and emotional neglect) is associated with mental health problems that persist into adulthood, for example anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal ideation, and aggression; however, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing literature would help clarify the magnitude and moderators of these associations, and the extent to which they may be affected by publication bias, as well as the methodological strengths and weakness of studies in this area. Method The reporting of this protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) Statement. Searches will be carried out via several databases, including Web of Science, Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, Applied Social Science Index and Abstract, ERIC and EMBASE. Empirical peer-reviewed research articles that fit pre-specified eligibility criteria will be included in the review. Studies will be eligible if they include participants age 18 or over at time of mental health assessment, include information on childhood psychological maltreatment (emotional abuse and/or neglect) perpetrated by a primary caregiver or adult in the same household, and provide quantitative information on the association between these factors. Studies using prospective and retrospective designs and written in either English or Chinese will be eligible. Two independent reviewers will screen and assess studies for inclusion in the review as well as extract the data, with consensus reached through discussion in cases of discrepancy. A third reviewer will be consulted to resolve any discrepancies that remain. The relevant Newcastle–Ottawa scales will be used for assessing the quality of studies. If a sufficient number of comparable studies are retrieved, a meta-analysis will be conducted using a random effects model. Study-level moderators (i.e., year of publication, quality of the study and study geographical location) will be examined in the meta-analyses. Discussion This systematic review will provide an understanding of the long-term effects of childhood psychological maltreatment on adult mental health, which adds to previous reviews focusing primarily on the effects of physical and sexual abuse. The results of the review will help inform clinical practice in approaches to treating those with a history of psychological maltreatment in childhood. The gaps and weaknesses in the evidence identified will also inform recommendations for future research

Trajectories of Screen Time across Adolescence and Their Associations with Adulthood Mental Health and Behavioral Outcomes

Excessive screen time among adolescents is discussed as a significant public health concern. Identifying adolescent longitudinal patterns of time spent on regularly-used media screens and understanding their young adulthood mental health and behavioral issue correlates may help inform strategies for improving these outcomes. This study aimed to characterize joint developmental patterns of time spent on videogames, surfing/chatting the Internet, and TV/DVDs during adolescence (at ages 11, 13, 15, 17) and their associations with mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and self-injury) and behavioral issues (i.e., substance use, delinquency, aggression) in early adulthood (at age 20). A parallel-process latent class growth analysis was used to model data from a diverse community-ascertained sample of youth in Zurich, Switzerland (n = 1521; 51.7% males). Results suggested that a five-class model best fitted the data: (1) low-screen use, 37.6%; (2) increasing chatting/surfing, 24.0%; (3) moderate-screen use, 18.6%; (4) early-adolescence screen use, 9.9%; and (5) increasing videogame and chatting/surfing, 9.9%. After adjusting for baseline levels of outcomes (primarily at age 11), the trajectory groups differed in their associations with adulthood outcomes of mental health and behavioral problems, indicating the importance of problematic screen usage patterns in predicting these outcomes. Future research to test the directionality of these associations will be important. These findings suggest which patterns of screen use may be a marker for later mental health and behavioral issues in different domains

Daily life affective dynamics as transdiagnostic predictors of mental health symptoms:An ecological momentary assessment study

BackgroundAffective dynamics have been identified as a correlate of a broad span of mental health issues, making them key candidate transdiagnostic factors. However, there remains a lack of knowledge about which aspects of affective dynamics – especially as they manifest in the course of daily life – relate to a general risk for mental health issues versus specific symptoms. MethodsWe leverage an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study design with four measures per day over a two-week period to explore how negative affect levels, inertia, lability, and reactivity to provocation and stress in the course of daily life relate to mental health symptoms in young adults (n= 256) in the domains of anxiety, depression, psychosis-like symptoms, behaviour problems, suicidality, and substance use. ResultsDynamic structural equation modelling (DSEM) suggested that negative affect levels in daily life were associated with depression, anxiety, indirect and proactive aggression, psychosis, anxiety, and self-injury; negative affective lability was associated with depression, physical aggression, reactive aggression, suicidal ideation, and ADHD symptoms; negative affective inertia was associated with depression, anxiety, physical aggression, and cannabis use; and emotional reactivity to provocation was related to physical aggression. LimitationsThe cross-sectional design, the limited span of mental health issues included, and the convenience nature and small size of the sample are limitations.ConclusionsFindings suggest that a subset of mental health symptoms have shared negative affective dynamics patterns. Longitudinal research is needed to rigorously examine the directionality of the effects underlying the association between affective dynamics and mental health issues

LGN regulates mitotic spindle orientation during epithelial morphogenesis

Disrupting LGN’s function at lateral membrane domains displaces the axis of cell division in cyst-forming MDCK cells