Focus on and venting of emotion mediate the pathway from maternal child abuse to adulthood depression severity

Exposure to parent-perpetrated child abuse is a risk factor for adulthood major depressive disorder (MDD). Coping strategies may be a plausible mechanism underlying this relationship. The current study examined whether positive reinterpretation (PR), focus on and venting of emotion (FVE), and behavioral disengagement (BD) mediated the relationship between maternal or paternal abuse and adulthood MDD symptoms.

Data from 3294 community-dwelling adults were collected across three waves, with each interval nine years apart. Structural equation mediation modeling examined whether each unique coping strategy at Wave 2 mediated the relationship between maternal or paternal abuse at Wave 1 and MDD symptoms at Wave 3, controlling for baseline MDD symptoms. Both Wave 1 maternal and paternal abuse were entered simultaneously into each of the three mediation models.

PR did not mediate the relationship between recalled parent-perpetrated child abuse and MDD severity (standardized β = 0.001 to 0.002). BD and FVE mediated the relationship between maternal abuse and MDD severity (β = 0.006 to 0.020) but not paternal abuse (both βs = -0.003). Maternal abuse was associated with higher BD and FVE (β = 0.175 to 0.628), which were both associated with increased MDD severity (β = 0.086 to 0.112).

BD and FVE are possible mechanisms linking childhood experiences to adulthood MDD severity. Identifying maladaptive coping as mediators highlights its role in shaping long-term mental health. Targeting these coping patterns may help reduce the enduring impact of child abuse on adult mental health, reinforcing the importance of early prevention.