Psychological mediators of the associations between adverse and benevolent childhood experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Sarah Louise Guthrie, Thanos Karatzias, Mark Shevlin et al.
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In 30 seconds
This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the psychological mediators linking adverse and benevolent childhood experiences (ACEs and BCEs) to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD) in adult populations. Analyzing 63 studies with 31,540 participants, it found that emotion regulation and maladaptive coping strategies significantly mediated the association between ACEs and PTSD, with effect sizes indicating small impacts.
Key findings
- Emotion regulation significantly mediated the association between ACEs and PTSD, β = .4.
- Maladaptive coping strategies also mediated the association between ACEs and PTSD, β = .05.
- The review included 63 studies with a total of 31,540 participants.
- Most mediators showed small effect sizes across the studies.
Why it matters
Understanding the psychological mediators between childhood experiences and PTSD can inform therapeutic approaches and interventions, potentially improving outcomes for affected individuals. Clinicians can better target treatment strategies by recognizing these mediators.