Adverse childhood experiences, attachments in childhood and adulthood, and psychological wellbeing in adulthood

Maltreatment in childhood can have a significant impact on psychological wellbeing later in life. Prior research has investigated the relationships between child maltreatment, and attachment, and psychological functioning. Correlations have been found between child abuse and insecure attachment styles in childhood (parent-child relationships) and adulthood (romantic relationships), and between insecure attachment styles and psychological functioning. The goal of the present study is to assess the incremental validity of indices of child maltreatment as well as parental attachment in childhood and romantic attachment in adulthood in models predicting types of psychopathology in adulthood. Participants recruited from a university student population completed questionnaires online assessing their history of adverse childhood experiences, attachment styles (with parents as a child and in current romantic relationships), and measures of psychological wellbeing (including self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder). It was anticipated that child maltreatment as well as attachment styles (in childhood and adulthood in separate models) would account for unique variance in the indices of psychological wellbeing. Correlational analyses and a series of hierarchical multiple regression models were used to test hypotheses. Findings add to theoretical understanding of these variables’ roles in psychological wellbeing among university students and also have potential implications for intervention work with those with histories of childhood maltreatment, insecure attachment styles, and current psychopathology