Psychological abuse, substance abuse distress, dissatisfaction with friendships, and incident psychiatric problems

• Published in: Journal of Psychosomatic Research
• Main Author: Sheikh, Mashhood Ahmed
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018
• Subjects: VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Psykologi: 260; VDP::Social science: 200::Psychology: 260; Developmental psychopathology; Emotional abuse; Epidemiology; Health psychology; Mental abuse; Mental health; Psychiatric disorders; Social relations; Verbal abuse; Verbal aggression; VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800; VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800; Tromsø
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/13588; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.03.001

Accepted manuscript version. Published version available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.03.001 . Accepted manuscript version, licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Objective : The aim of this study was to assess the mediating role of dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood in the associations between psychological abuse in childhood, substance abuse distress in childhood, and incident psychiatric problems (IPPs) in adulthood over 13 years of follow-up. Methods : We used data collected from 1994 to 2008 within the framework of the Tromsø Study (N = 9502), a representative, longitudinal, prospective cohort study. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the associations between psychological abuse, substance abuse distress, dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood, and IPPs in adulthood. Indirect effects and proportion mediated (%) were assessed with the difference-in-coefficients method. Results : Psychological abuse (relative risk [RR] = 1.66, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.45–1.89) and substance abuse distress in childhood (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.18–1.62) were associated with an increased risk of dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood. Dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood was associated with an increased risk of IPPs in adulthood (RR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.33–2.20). Moreover, dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood mediated 9.31% (95% CI: 4.25–14.57) of the association between psychological abuse in childhood and IPPs in adulthood, and 9.17% (95% CI: 4.35–16.33) of the association between substance abuse distress in childhood and IPPs in adulthood. Conclusions : Dissatisfaction with friendships in adulthood mediates a minor proportion of the associations between psychological abuse, substance abuse distress, and IPPs in adulthood. Interventions aimed at decreasing dissatisfaction with friendships may dampen some of the effect of psychological abuse and substance abuse distress in childhood on IPPs in adulthood.