Childhood Centeredness is a Broader Predictor of Young Adulthood Mental Health than Childhood Adversity, Attachment, and Other Positive Childhood Experiences

Abstract

This study introduced the novel concept of Centeredness, a measure of the emotional atmosphere of the family of origin and a target adult individual's perception of feeling safe, accepted, and supported from childhood primary caregivers and other family members. This study developed a Centeredness scale for adult respondents and tested hypotheses that higher levels of overall Centeredness would predict lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms; suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs); and aggressive behavior; and higher levels of life satisfaction. Predictive effects of Centeredness were compared against attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, and adverse and benevolent childhood experiences (ACEs and BCEs). Participants were recruited via the Prolific-Academic (Pro-A) survey panel into two large independent samples of US young adults aged 19-35 years [Sample 1 (test sample), N = 548, 53.5% female, 2.2% gender non-conforming, 68.3% White, recruited before the pandemic; Sample 2 (replication sample), N = 1,198, 56.2% female, 2.3% gender non-conforming, 66.4% White; recruited during the pandemic]. Participants completed the novel Centeredness scale, which showed strong psychometric properties, and standardized, publicly available assessments of childhood experiences and mental health outcomes. Centeredness was the only variable that significantly predicted each mental health outcome across both samples. BCEs predicted all outcomes except aggressive behavior in the test sample. Centeredness and BCEs were also the only two variables that significantly predicted a dimensional mental health composite in both samples. Neither attachment-related anxiety and avoidance nor ACEs were as broadly predictive. The Centeredness scale assesses emotional aspects of childhood family relationships with individuals of diverse backgrounds and family compositions. Clinical and cultural implications are discussed.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42844-023-00089-x.

Keywords: ACEs; Attachment; BCEs; Centeredness; Diversity; Inclusivity; Young adulthood.

Fig. 1

Conceptual diagram of childhood Centeredness (a) with parents and (b) within the family. Please note: P1, parent or primary caregiver 1; P2, second parent or secondary caregiver; C, child (target respondent); FM, any other family member(s) in household (e.g., siblings, grandparents, etc.); one or more FM(s) may be present in the right diagram. Parentheses indicate various possible positions that could relate to the child’s different perceptions of overall Centeredness. The left circle is the most common case of having a parent (P) at the center of the family. In this case, it is a two-parent family, but P2 could be removed for a single-parent family. The child (C) could be in one of three places, corresponding to high perceived overall Centeredness (innermost circle), moderate Centeredness (second tier), or low Centeredness (outermost circle). The right circle adds in other family members (FMs) that might live in the primary household. If everyone is in the inner circle, then the child (C) would perceive high overall Centeredness within the family, but as the child or any other members move outward, the child’s overall Centeredness score would theoretically decrease as the child perceives themself or others to not be as centered in the family environment. To receive a high score on the Centeredness scale, a target adult respondent would have to perceive high levels of overall Centeredness in relation to their parent(s)/primary caregiver(s) (left diagram) and in relation to their entire family unit ((right diagram). Target adult respondents who perceived high Centeredness in only one or the other (or neither)  diagram would theoretically have lower overall Centeredness scores on the Centeredness scale. Finally, perceptions of Centeredness may vary across different family members, such that two siblings in the same family may perceive different levels of Centeredness (and have different overall scores on the Centeredness scale)