Cargando…

The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life

Many factors may influence adaptation to critical life events such as divorce and bereavement in the second half of life, including having faced childhood adversity. However, pathways to reduced adaptation success are poorly understood. Self-continuity, an identity mechanism that incorporates life c...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Lampraki, Charikleia, Jopp, Daniela S., Spini, Dario
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9721115/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36478945
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039504
_version_ 1784843699519225856
author Lampraki, Charikleia
Jopp, Daniela S.
Spini, Dario
author_facet Lampraki, Charikleia
Jopp, Daniela S.
Spini, Dario
author_sort Lampraki, Charikleia
collection PubMed
description Many factors may influence adaptation to critical life events such as divorce and bereavement in the second half of life, including having faced childhood adversity. However, pathways to reduced adaptation success are poorly understood. Self-continuity, an identity mechanism that incorporates life changes into a coherent life story, may contribute to better adaptation to adult critical life events, such as feeling less socially and emotionally lonely. We investigated the mediating role of self-continuity channeling the effects of childhood adversity on later life adaptation outcomes among individuals who had experienced divorce or bereavement. Data were derived from the longitudinal LIVES Intimate Partner Loss Study conducted in Switzerland from 2012 to 2016. The sample consisted of individuals who had experienced divorce (n = 416, M(age) = 57.35) or bereavement (n = 339, M(age) = 71.36) in later life, and a continuously married control group (n = 925, M(age) = 67.04). Multilevel moderated mediations were used. Self-continuity mediated the effect of childhood adversity on emotional loneliness for all marital groups, but to a greater extent among divorcees. Self-continuity also mediated the effect of childhood adversity on social loneliness; however, this effect did not differ by marital group. In conclusion, childhood adversity was associated to greater loneliness in later life through self-continuity. Divorcees were the most impacted group regarding emotional loneliness, as they experienced lower levels of self-continuity. Interventions that aim to reinforce self-continuity may help overcome social and emotional loneliness, especially for individuals who have experienced the loss of their partner through divorce.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9721115
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-97211152022-12-06 The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life Lampraki, Charikleia Jopp, Daniela S. Spini, Dario Front Psychol Psychology Many factors may influence adaptation to critical life events such as divorce and bereavement in the second half of life, including having faced childhood adversity. However, pathways to reduced adaptation success are poorly understood. Self-continuity, an identity mechanism that incorporates life changes into a coherent life story, may contribute to better adaptation to adult critical life events, such as feeling less socially and emotionally lonely. We investigated the mediating role of self-continuity channeling the effects of childhood adversity on later life adaptation outcomes among individuals who had experienced divorce or bereavement. Data were derived from the longitudinal LIVES Intimate Partner Loss Study conducted in Switzerland from 2012 to 2016. The sample consisted of individuals who had experienced divorce (n = 416, M(age) = 57.35) or bereavement (n = 339, M(age) = 71.36) in later life, and a continuously married control group (n = 925, M(age) = 67.04). Multilevel moderated mediations were used. Self-continuity mediated the effect of childhood adversity on emotional loneliness for all marital groups, but to a greater extent among divorcees. Self-continuity also mediated the effect of childhood adversity on social loneliness; however, this effect did not differ by marital group. In conclusion, childhood adversity was associated to greater loneliness in later life through self-continuity. Divorcees were the most impacted group regarding emotional loneliness, as they experienced lower levels of self-continuity. Interventions that aim to reinforce self-continuity may help overcome social and emotional loneliness, especially for individuals who have experienced the loss of their partner through divorce. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-11-21 /pmc/articles/PMC9721115/ /pubmed/36478945 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039504 Text en Copyright © 2022 Lampraki, Jopp and Spini. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Lampraki, Charikleia
Jopp, Daniela S.
Spini, Dario
The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title_full The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title_fullStr The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title_full_unstemmed The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title_short The mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
title_sort mediating role of self-continuity on the link between childhood adversity and loneliness in later life
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9721115/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36478945
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039504
work_keys_str_mv AT lamprakicharikleia themediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife
AT joppdanielas themediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife
AT spinidario themediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife
AT lamprakicharikleia mediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife
AT joppdanielas mediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife
AT spinidario mediatingroleofselfcontinuityonthelinkbetweenchildhoodadversityandlonelinessinlaterlife