The moderating effect of childhood maltreatment history on the relationship between daily hassles, social support, and depressive symptoms among Japanese adults: a prospective analysis

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment, a traumatic experience before 18 years of age, can be classified into five types: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. Social support is a promising protective factor that buffers the negative effects of daily hassles on mental health. However, some studies have indicated that childhood maltreatment can impair the effectiveness of social support against daily hassles in adulthood. Thus, the extent of certain subtypes of childhood maltreatment was hypothesized to hinder the function of social support. To test this, this study empirically examined the moderating effect of each subtype on the association between social support, daily hassles, and depressive symptoms.METHODS: A two-wave online survey was conducted with non-clinical Japanese individuals, and data from 419 participants were analyzed.RESULTS: Emotional neglect diminished the effectiveness of social support in preventing increased depressive symptoms. This indicates that severe emotional neglect could impair the subsequent function of social support. In contrast, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional abuse were suggested to be factors that unexpectedly contribute to decreased depressive symptoms. Specifically, sexual abuse was associated with decreased depressive symptoms, potentially by enhancing the effectiveness of social support. Physical neglect was directly associated with decreased depressive symptoms. Emotional abuse was associated with decreased depressive symptoms by alleviating the negative impact of daily hassles. These phenomena could be considered as posttraumatic growth.CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that each childhood maltreatment subtype can differently influence the function of stress management and the effectiveness of social support.