The Mediating Role of Distress Tolerance in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Outcomes Among University Students
Open accessAbstract
A wealth of empirical literature has documented that the experience of childhood maltreatment is related to an increased risk for the development of psychopathologies in adulthood. Empirical studies examining the factors that could possibly explain this relationship, however, remain sparse. The emerging literature on distress tolerance (DT) suggests that it could possibly act as an explanatory or mediating factor within this relationship. The current study, therefore, examined the mediating role of DT in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology (posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and alcohol use) in adulthood in a university student population sample ( N = 642). Results showed that childhood maltreatment was positively associated with caseness for all mental health outcomes under investigation. It was also found that individuals with higher levels of DT were less likely to experience adverse mental health outcomes. The results of the mediation analysis indicated that the exposure to childhood maltreatment remained associated with elevated risk for being in the symptomatic group across mental health outcomes, and that DT significantly mediated this relationship. These results provide insight into the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental ill-health later in life, highlighting the importance of considering DT as a potential risk and resilience factor in this relationship.
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Exposure to nature may regulate stress, thus enhancing tolerance to negative emotions, which may further reduce the risk of depression and anxiety.
“On the other hand, exposure to nature may regulate stress, thus enhancing tolerance to negative emotions (34, 35), which may further reduce the risk of depression and anxiety (36, 37).”
From Can Viewing Nature Through Windows Improve Isolated Living? A Pathway Analysis on Chinese Male Prisoners During the COVID-19 Epidemic (2021) · cites this paper as [37]
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- Authors
- Robinson, M., Ross, J., Fletcher, S., Burns, C. R., Lagdon, S., & Armour, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Ulster University, Coleraine, UK
- Venue
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-03-11
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 15-16
- Pages
- 7249-7273
- ISSN
- 0886-2605 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6518
- OpenAlex
- W2922034580
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 2.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pure.ulster.ac.uk
- Locations
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Ulster University Research Portal (Ulster University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- child abuse, distress tolerance, mediation, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, alcohol consumption, university students, resilience, mental health outcomes, adult psychopathology
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Child, Child Abuse, Humans, Students, Universities, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
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