It is well known that negative experiences in childhood can increase the risk of developing mental health problems, but the sad fact alone does not explain every person who later develops forms of psychological distress.
In a recent study, researchers sought to examine how people’s life histories have influenced the development of psychopathology – the abnormal thoughts and behaviors that often support mental disorders.
As we would expect, the results of the research were mixed: negative experiences in childhood may manifest later in life as anxiety or other mental health disorders, but the absence of such experiences does not guarantee that you are free from the subsequent psychological problems. , scientists say.
“This research shows that mental health conditions are not just determined by early life events,” explains evolutionary psychologist Bianca Kahl of the University of South Australia.
“A child raised in a happy home can still grow up with a mental health disorder.”
This may sound like an obvious result, but it is an important study that helps break down the stigma that mental health problems only occur in some people.
In the study, Kahl and co-researchers interviewed 343 participants via an online questionnaire and asked them about their family and education, along with several questions examining the nature of their developmental trajectory, mental health, general well-being and the nature of their relationships and attachments. today.
“The study specifically aimed to investigate whether life history characteristics are related to a common factor in psychopathology and whether it may also predict specific symptom groups,” the authors explain in their paper.
In this context, characteristics of life history form part of life history theory – a framework for analyzing how different types of life strategies can influence the patterns and experiences that people experience over time.
In a much simplified sense, life history strategies can be characterized as fast or slow, with fast, often impulsive, and current-oriented decision-making and behavior, as opposed to slow-moving, more deliberate, future-oriented decision-making and behavior.
What Kahl and her team wanted to analyze was whether a fast or slow life strategy predicts a common ‘p-factor’, representing an overall risk or likelihood for the development of psychopathology and related mental disorders, which have been linked in the past. with quick life history strategies.
“We aimed to answer the research question: how are different symptoms of psychopathology linked to the slow life history continuum?” write the researchers.
“We assumed that the association between children and infants would moderate the association between early living conditions and symptoms of psychopathology, with those who had parental support possibly being buffered due to the harshness of the environment in childhood, and on in turn reported fewer symptoms of psychopathology. “
In the study, the team found that faster life history characteristics are associated with general psychopathology, but the results showed that some symptoms of psychopathology are in fact associated with slow life history characteristics.
“Poorly perceived parental support and a lower socioeconomic status were accompanied by a higher percentage of general psychopathology, for women and men, respectively,” the team explains.
“These findings are complementary to previous works that show a link between experienced adversity and the p-factor.”
Outside the general association, however, the symptoms of psychopathology were somewhat distributed, and the results showed that interpersonal sensitivity and depression were more likely for those with a faster life history strategy, while somatization and anxiety were greater for people with a slower life history strategy.
In terms of whether a happy childhood (specifically perceived parental support) acted as a kind of buffer against psychopathology, the researchers found that their hypothesis was not supported by the data, suggesting that the relationship was more complex is and that it emphasizes a direction for future research. , so we can find out what’s really going on here.
“We suspect that it is our expectations about our environments and our ability to adapt to scenarios when our expectations are not met, that could affect our experiences of distress,” says Kahl.
“If we as children learn how to adapt to change, and we learn how to cope when things do not go our way, we may be better able to respond to stress and other risk factors for poor mental health.”
The findings are presented in Current Psychology.