Does striving to succeed come at a physiological or psychosocial cost for adults who experienced child maltreatment?

Jenalee R. Doom, Vivienne M. Hazzard, Katherine W. Bauer, Cari J Clark, Alison L. Miller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

While striving to succeed in the face of adversity may provide individuals with outward benefits, it may come at a cost to individuals' physical health. The current study examines whether striving predicts greater physiological or psychosocial costs among those who experienced child maltreatment, a stressor that disrupts the caregiving environment and threatens relationship security. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we tested whether greater striving after childhood maltreatment would come at a cost, increasing underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and depressive symptoms despite showing outward success via income and college degree attainment. The study included 13,341 Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents who self-reported striving and their experiences of childhood neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. As young adults, participants reported depressive symptoms, income, and college degree attainment and completed a health assessment from which a 30-year Framingham-based CVD risk score was calculated. Higher striving was associated with lower CVD risk and depressive symptoms, and higher income and college degree attainment, regardless of maltreatment history. These findings highlight the potential for striving as a target for interventions and support the need to examine multiple biological and behavioral outcomes to understand the multifaceted nature of resilience.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1905-1919
Number of pages15
JournalDevelopment and psychopathology
Volume29
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017.

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