Implications of childhood psychological maltreatment and peer victimization for COVID-19 PTSD symptoms among adolescents: Mindfulness and self-compassion as explanatory mechanisms in trauma transmission

Abstract

<p>Objective: The linking mechanisms underlying associations between early adversities and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms related to major public health crises remain unclear. Grounded in the stress process model, the present study examined the potential mediating roles of mindfulness and various forms of emotion regulation strategies (general: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression; self-care specific: self-compassion) in the associations between victimization by family members and peers (childhood psychological maltreatment and peer victimization) and COVID-19 PTSD symptoms among adolescents. Method: Three-wave survey data were collected from 844 Chinese junior high school students (51.7% boys, <em>M</em>_age = 13.21 years old, <em>SD</em> = .39) in the COVID-19 context (December 2020 to June 2022). The second-wave and the third-wave data were collected 6 months and 1.5 years later from the baseline, respectively. Results: Childhood psychological maltreatment and peer victimization were associated with COVID-19 PTSD symptoms through either mindfulness or self-compassion. A sequential mediating pathway from mindfulness to self-compassion was identified. In contrast, no mediating pathways involving cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression were identified. Conclusions: Early victimization by family members and peers as primary stressors may contribute to subsequent PTSD symptoms in challenging life contexts due to major public health crises (e.g., the pandemic) through proliferating into secondary stressors of impeded mindfulness and self-compassion. Self-care-specific emotion regulation strategies may uniquely matter more above and beyond the general emotion regulation strategies in explaining such associations. Trainings that facilitate mindfulness and self-compassion could be potential avenues to reduce the deleterious implications of early adversities for later psychological well-being.<br></p>