Adverse childhood experiences of emotional and physical abuse and emotional and behavioral problems: the mediating effects of family function and resilience

ABSTRACT

Adverse childhood experiences are a widespread phenomenon that can have a variety of negative effects on children. Emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) in children have been gaining interest in recent years. Therefore, this study aims to explore the association between emotional and physical abuse (EPA) and preschool children’s EBP, as well as to assess the mediating effects of family function and resilience in this association. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and we recruited 3,636 participants from 26 kindergartens in three cities. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to test the relationships between EPA, mediators (family function and resilience), and EBP. Structural equation modeling was used to perform the mediation analyses. The results of this study showed that EPA predicted EBP in preschool children, family function, and resilience independently and in combination to mediate the relationship. Therefore, improving family function and increasing children’s level of resilience are beneficial methods for the prevention and intervention of EBP in preschool children who experience EPA, but most fundamentally to avoid or reduce the occurrence of abuse. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings and explore possible mediating mechanisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional abuse
• physical abuse
• emotional and behavioral problems
• preschool children
• family function
• resilience

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the efforts of the research team, the local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all kindergartens, as well as all the children and families who participated in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Author contributions

Hao Wang and Xianwei Guo: wrote the manuscript; Ning Li, Wanying Su, Qiuxia Song, Qiwei Liang, Mingming Liang, Qirong Qin, Mingchun Chen, and Liang Sun: recruited the participants; Hao Wang, Xianwei Guo, and Xiuxiu Ding: collated and analyzed the data; Xiuxiu Ding and Dr. Yehuan Sun: critically reviewed the manuscript and helped revise the manuscript; Dr. Yehuan Sun: designed the study and made the final revision; and all the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Anhui Medical University (20180402) and followed the principles of informed consent and strict confidentiality.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2023.2208365.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number: 81872704)