TY - JOUR
T1 - Could Family Well-Being Moderate The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Somatoform Dissociation? A Preliminary Investigation
AU - Cheung, Cherry T.Y.
AU - Cheng, Clement Man-Him
AU - Lee, Vincent Wan Ping
AU - Lam, Stanley Kam Ki
AU - He, Kyle Langjie
AU - Ling, Henry Wai-Hang
N1 - Funding Information:
The corresponding author, HWF, received The RGC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2022/2023 from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong.
Publisher copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - The impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been well documented. One possible consequence of ACEs is dissociation, which is a major feature of post-traumatic psychopathology and is also associated with considerable impairment and health care costs. Although ACEs are known to be associated with both psychoform and somatoform dissociation, much less is known about the mechanisms behind this relationship. Little is known about whether social and interpersonal factors such as family environments would moderate the relationship between ACEs and somatoform dissociation. This paper discusses the importance of having a positive and healthy family environment in trauma recovery. We then report the findings of a preliminary study in which we examined whether the association between ACEs and somatoform dissociation would be moderated by family well-being in a convenience sample of Hong Kong adults (N = 359). The number of ACEs was positively associated with somatoform dissociative symptoms, but this association was moderated by the level of family well-being. The number of ACEs was associated with somatoform dissociation only when the family well-being scores were low. These moderating effects were medium. The findings point to the potential importance of using family education and intervention programs to prevent and treat trauma-related dissociative symptoms, but further investigation is needed.
AB - The impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been well documented. One possible consequence of ACEs is dissociation, which is a major feature of post-traumatic psychopathology and is also associated with considerable impairment and health care costs. Although ACEs are known to be associated with both psychoform and somatoform dissociation, much less is known about the mechanisms behind this relationship. Little is known about whether social and interpersonal factors such as family environments would moderate the relationship between ACEs and somatoform dissociation. This paper discusses the importance of having a positive and healthy family environment in trauma recovery. We then report the findings of a preliminary study in which we examined whether the association between ACEs and somatoform dissociation would be moderated by family well-being in a convenience sample of Hong Kong adults (N = 359). The number of ACEs was positively associated with somatoform dissociative symptoms, but this association was moderated by the level of family well-being. The number of ACEs was associated with somatoform dissociation only when the family well-being scores were low. These moderating effects were medium. The findings point to the potential importance of using family education and intervention programs to prevent and treat trauma-related dissociative symptoms, but further investigation is needed.
KW - Childhood adversities
KW - family interventions
KW - mental health
KW - somatoform dissociation
KW - trauma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164720257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15299732.2023.2233095
DO - 10.1080/15299732.2023.2233095
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1529-9732
VL - 25
SP - 153
EP - 167
JO - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
JF - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
IS - 2
ER -