{"title":"Racial Differences in Coping as a Mediating Pathway from Childhood Adversity to Adult Health","authors":"Kristin J. Homan","doi":"10.1007/s10804-024-09495-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>People who experience adversity early in life are vulnerable to psychological and physical health problems across the lifespan. Although some evidence indicates that coping style mediates this long-term association, it is not known whether these relationships generalize to Black Americans. This study examined whether coping style plays an intermediary role between adverse childhood experiences and adult health, and if there are Black and White differences among these relationships. Data (<i>N</i> = 3680) were drawn from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher and Milwaukee Refresher projects. Using model-based Bayesian imputation, moderated mediation models were estimated. Estimates of the indirect pathways from adversity to six distinct measures of adult health via coping style were obtained separately by race. A key finding was that for Black participants, early adversity was consistently associated with increased emotion-focused coping which in turn was associated with poorer health outcomes. This result was discussed considering the divergent experiences of Black and White individuals in the United States.</p>","PeriodicalId":51546,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Adult Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Adult Development","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-024-09495-6","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
People who experience adversity early in life are vulnerable to psychological and physical health problems across the lifespan. Although some evidence indicates that coping style mediates this long-term association, it is not known whether these relationships generalize to Black Americans. This study examined whether coping style plays an intermediary role between adverse childhood experiences and adult health, and if there are Black and White differences among these relationships. Data (N = 3680) were drawn from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher and Milwaukee Refresher projects. Using model-based Bayesian imputation, moderated mediation models were estimated. Estimates of the indirect pathways from adversity to six distinct measures of adult health via coping style were obtained separately by race. A key finding was that for Black participants, early adversity was consistently associated with increased emotion-focused coping which in turn was associated with poorer health outcomes. This result was discussed considering the divergent experiences of Black and White individuals in the United States.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Adult Development is an interdisciplinary journal covering development in early adulthood, midlife, and later adulthood. The Journal supports innovative theoretical and empirical articles that help direct the future of our field. Critical issues include the importance of life-long education, work and family changes, and physical and mental health influencing adult development. In addition, the impact of personality, emotions, cognition, and biomarkers are areas of interest. The Journal of Adult Development emphasizes the importance of interindividual differences and contextual issues influencing adult development. Interventions that promote optimal development throughout the adult life span are also welcome.