Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways

    Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways Tatiana Corrales, Michelle Waterford, Ian Goodwin-Smith, Leanne Wood, Todd Yourell, Coco Ho PII: DOI: Reference:

S0190-7409(16)30055-X doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.02.021 CYSR 2903

To appear in:

Children and Youth Services Review

Received date: Revised date: Accepted date:

11 September 2015 18 February 2016 18 February 2016

Please cite this article as: Corrales, T., Waterford, M., Goodwin-Smith, I., Wood, L., Yourell, T. & Ho, C., Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways, Children and Youth Services Review (2016), doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.02.021

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways

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Tatiana Corralesa (corresponding author) Anglicare Victoria

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Michelle Waterfordb Anglicare Australia

Ian Goodwin-Smithc Australian Centre for Community Services Research, Flinders University

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Leanne Woodd Anglicare Southern Queensland

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Todd Yourelle CASPA (Child and Adolescent Specialist Programs and Accommodation)

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Coco Hob Anglicare Australia

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b

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103 Hoddle Street, Collingwood, VIC, 3066, Australia. Email: [email protected] First Floor, 11 Edgar Street, Ainslie, ACT, 2602, Australia. Email: [email protected], [email protected]

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GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, SA, Australia. Email: [email protected]

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PO Box 10556, Adelaide Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia. Email: [email protected] e

PO Box 780, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia. Email: [email protected]

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways Abstract

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Childhood adversity is a complex issue with the potential for lasting effects over the developmental trajectory. Research has confirmed that people who experience significant

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adversity, hardship and trauma in early stages of development are at an increased risk of a range of negative outcomes at later stages of the life-course, including increased

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psychological distress and dysfunction, decreased likelihood of educational engagement and an increased risk of early parenthood. However, distal events exert their influence on later

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outcomes through various proximal mechanisms. One such postulated mechanism is a sense of belonging. This study investigated the role of sense of belonging as a mediator between experiences of adversity in childhood and psychosocial outcomes in emerging

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adulthood, among a sample of 254 young people receiving a range of social services throughout Australia. Results of three mediation analyses confirm that the path from

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childhood adversity to psychological distress and educational engagement is only weakly mediated by sense of belonging. No other statistically significant relationships were found. These results indicate that additional mediators are likely needed to more fully explain the

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effects of childhood adversity on psychosocial functioning in emerging adulthood. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance of belonging for practice in the field of child and youth welfare.

Keywords: belonging, childhood adversity, psychological distress, emerging adulthood, psychosocial outcomes

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1. Introduction 1.1. Childhood adversity and outcomes for marginalised young people Research with marginalised young people has consistently identified that experiences of

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adversity at early stages of the life-course are linked to poorer outcomes at later stages of development and across a range of life domains (Berzin, 2008; Courtney, Hook & Lee, 2012;

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Schilling, Aseltine & Gore, 2008). While the bulk of this research has focussed on young people who have experienced out-of-home care placements, there is emerging evidence

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that young people who have experienced hardship and adversity share important similarities, regardless of their contact with the child welfare and out-of-home care systems (Berzin,

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2008).

The concept of adversity has received widespread and multidisciplinary research attention,

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especially in relation to its broader links with developmental and psychosocial outcomes. A number of longitudinal, and large-scale cross-sectional population-based studies provide

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support for a potential causal link between childhood adversity, psychosocial development and adult functioning (Edwards, Holden, Felitti & Anda, 2003; Seery, Holman & Silver, 2010; Schilling et al, 2008). Despite this accumulation of evidence, debate still exists about

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mechanisms through which distal childhood experiences, including abuse, neglect and trauma, exert their influence throughout the life-course. Some of this debate is reflected in the variability surrounding definitions of adversity, which can range from very specific instances of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), to exposure and/or experience of violence and victimisation, to loss of family through death or divorce, family disruption through illness and/or intervention by the State, through to experiences of natural disasters (Jacobs, Agho, Stevens & Raphael, 2012). The conceptual scope of adversity is further complicated by the timing of onset, the chronicity and severity of experiences, the co-occurrence of multiple forms of adversity, and the cumulative impact of these experiences over time (Schilling et al., 2008; Seery et al., 2010). 3

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Given the considerable variability in the way adversity is defined and experienced, and its location as a distal risk factor for later outcomes, it is important to investigate more proximal, developmentally grounded mechanisms through which adverse experiences influence

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individual’s psychosocial adjustment through the life-course.

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1.2 Emerging adulthood

Emerging adulthood, defined as a period of developmental transition between late

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adolescence and young adulthood, has emerged as a significant theoretical and empirical stage of development in recent years (Arnett, 2000). It has been described as a period of

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substantial instability as young people navigate an ambiguous social and subjective position where they are no longer seen as children but not yet defined as adults. According to Arnett (2004) emerging adulthood is defined by five core characteristics, including feeling in-

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between (i.e., the subjective experience of ‘limbo’), instability, exploration, self-focus and optimism. Fundamentally, emerging adulthood is as a positive and hopeful stage of

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development, where young people are provided with opportunities to fully explore, define and begin to consolidate their roles and worldviews. As such, identity development takes on

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increasing salience and importance during this developmental stage.

Emerging adulthood presents a different set of challenges and opportunities for young people considered ‘at-risk’ by virtue of early experiences of adversity (Hiles, Moss, Thorne, Wright & Dallos, 2014; Keller, Cusick & Courtney 2007; Propp, Ortega & NewHearth, 2003; Samuels & Pryce, 2008). For these young people, the transition to adulthood typically occurs in the context of significant family disruption alongside involvement with the child protection, criminal justice and/or mental health systems. This has led some scholars to suggest that vulnerable young people experience a differential pathway into adulthood. For example, Berzin, Singer and Hokanson (2014) found that while young people exiting the foster care system experienced the core normative elements associated with emerging adulthood, their 4

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT developmental trajectories were marked by an acceleration of adult roles and responsibilities. For the young people in their study, adulthood was defined in relation to selfsufficiency and self-reliance, including financial independence and a sense of autonomy,

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with a lesser focus on identity exploration and the experiential feeling of limbo (Berzin et al.,

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2014).

1.3. Self-Determination Theory and the need to belong

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Self-Determination Theory (SDT: Ryan & Deci, 2000) provides a parsimonious and elegant framework for understanding some of the core mechanisms underlying the development and

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expression of psychological ill health and psychopathology, while simultaneously providing insights into processes that can lead to psychological and eudemonic wellbeing (Deci &

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Ryan, 2000; La Guardia & Patric, 2008; Ryan, Legate, Niemiec & Deci, 2012).

SDT begins with the premise that human beings have an intrinsic pull towards growth, which

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is driven by three basic and fundamental human needs, namely autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy is defined as the experience of volitional and integrated action, such that an individual experiences his/her behaviour as originating from within the self and

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reflecting core values and beliefs. Competence is defined as an individual’s experience of a sense of mastery or effectance. Finally, relatedness refers to individuals’ experience of belonging and connection to others within their social environments.

Fulfilment of these needs occurs within social contexts that are supportive of autonomy, while needs thwarting has been shown to occur within controlling environments (see for example Chen et al., 2015 and Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch & ThøgersenNtounami, 2011). These environments interact with individual differences in regulation style (internal versus external locus of causality) and motivational style (amotivational, extrinsic and intrinsic) to influence wellbeing. 5

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT There is a large body of empirical evidence supporting the major tenets of SDT. Specifically, there is support for its cross-cultural applicability (Chen et al., 2015), for the differential role of need satisfaction and need thwarting (Bartholomew et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2015) and for

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the impact of autonomy-supportive versus controlling environments on psychological wellbeing and ill-health, respectively (Deci & Ryan, 2012; Ryan et al., 2012; Van Ryzin,

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Gravely & Roseth, 2009).

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Despite this body of evidence, the bulk of research has focussed on the need of autonomy and the impact of autonomy-supportive versus controlling environments. This is

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understandable given that satisfaction of the autonomy need appears to support wellbeing across various conceptualisations of the construct. Competence and relatedness, however, appear to have differential associations to wellbeing, depending on how it is operationalised

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and measured (Chen et al., 2015).

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This is an important issue for a number of reasons. First, the principles of SDT have not been widely investigated with individuals who have experienced maltreatment, abuse or adversity. While there is no reason to suspect that this cohort will have qualitatively or

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functionally different needs, it is possible that in the context of maltreatment the need for relatedness becomes increasingly salient, particularly if the maltreatment occurs during early stages of development. Second, exposure to severe and chronic need deprivation across multiple domains may further increase the salience of the relatedness need, especially for young people who may experience obstacles to need satisfaction in various social contexts (i.e., family, school, community).

The attachment literature provides a theoretically and conceptually rich mechanism that can inform an understanding of the differential importance of relatedness for young people who have a history of adversity and trauma. Specifically, internal working models about the self, 6

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT others and the world develop and evolve as an individual engages with his/her social environment (Crick & Dodge, 1994; Riggs, 2010; Wright, Crawford & Castillo, 2009). These cognitive representations shape how individuals derive meaning from their engagement with

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others and how they perceive their place and value within their social worlds. Experiences of adversity in early childhood influence the development of functionally adaptive, but

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potentially biased relational schemas. Over time, these schemas begin to shape the way an individual defines him/herself in relation to others (e.g., unworthy, unlovable, overly self-

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reliant). Therefore, emerging adulthood, with its emphasis on identity development can be seen as a time of positive self-exploration, but also a time where maladaptive schemas can

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be further reinforced. For example, young people may be exposed to a variety of autonomy supportive contexts that nevertheless thwart their need for relatedness (Bartholomew et al.., 2011). This may occur due to the compensatory strategies that develop as a result of need

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thwarting, which may actively function to diminish others’ capacity to create environments

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where young people feel valued, supported and nurtured.

1.3.1 Relatedness and belonging By definition the need for relatedness is a broad construct with a number of constitutive

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elements, including a sense of belonging (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In a series of publications Baumeister and colleagues have argued that belonging is a fundamental human need defined by lasting, stable, predominantly positive, interpersonal relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). At the core of belonging is the belief that one is valued and cared for by others, that this care and concern is stable across time and will endure even in the face of conflict (Lambert, Stillman, Hicks, Kamble, Baumeister & Fincham, 2013). Research has found that the absence of belonging is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including aggressive and/or violent behaviour, difficulties with affect regulation and cognitive processing, diminished capacity for empathic responding, decreased pain sensitivity and

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT social withdrawal (see for example Baumeister, Brewer, Tice & Twenge, 2007 for a review of this research).

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When viewed through the lens of SDT and attachment theory, sense of belonging emerges as a potentially important, proximal mechanism through which early experiences of

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maltreatment and adversity impact on psychosocial functioning at later stages of development. For example, Harvey, Dorahy, Vertue & Duthie (2012) argued that

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experiences of childhood psychological abuse may influence the development of shamebased schemas grounded in beliefs of inherent unworthiness and ‘badness’, an overly

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developed sense of personal responsibility, a rigid dichotomisation of the world (i.e., good versus bad, strong versus weak etc.), and an inability to understand the internal world of others. Similarly, Wright et al (2009) tested a multiple mediation model utilising a sample of

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301 predominantly white, middle-class first year psychology students. Results showed that cognitive representations of the self, others and the self-in-relation to others were significant

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predictors of internalising psychopathology, including depression, anxiety and dissociation. Moreover, schemas grounded in beliefs of vulnerability, defectiveness and shame significantly predicted and partially mediated the relationship between childhood emotional

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abuse and psychological outcomes (Wright et al., 2009).

In a recent phenomenological study of 24 young people who had experienced hardship, adversity and trauma, Noble-Carr, Barker, McArthur and Woodman (2014) argued that belonging is a core component of the way young people engage in meaning-making and identity construction. The desire to establish and maintain caring connections, to feel a sense of connection to community and develop a sense of ‘home’ and ‘family’, and to have their strengths, capabilities and achievements acknowledged were all seen as important elements of identity-work. Underlying these ‘resources’ is a desire for interpersonal connections that convey a sense of value and inherent worthiness. There is a strong 8

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT argument, therefore, that attachment disruption creates a context for need thwarting, specifically in relation to the need for relatedness, which can then negatively impact on an

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individual’s capacity to achieve need fulfilment in ways that support psychological wellbeing.

1.3.2 Education and Belonging

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According to the tenets of SDT, need satisfaction is not a static process, but rather is fundamentally context-dependent. That is, individuals may experience autonomy support

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and control within the same social context, or they may experience autonomy support in one context but control in another (Bartholomew et al., 2011; Deci & Ryan, 2012). For young

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people with histories of adversity and maltreatment, the education system provides an important context for need satisfaction.

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Educational engagement has been found to be a protective factor for young people in care in particular (see for example, Courtney & Dworsky, 2006; Hook & Courtney, 2011; Lee,

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Courtney & Hook, 2012). Across multiple analyses, Courtney and colleagues have identified that young people who maintain educational engagement and achieve secondary and postsecondary qualifications are more likely to be employed in early adulthood and to earn more

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than their peers who have not maintained connection to educational institutions. Educational engagement has also been found to be a protective factor against criminal justice system involvement.

Although belonging has not been posited as a mechanism that can influence educational engagement, SDT provides a lens through which engagement and achievement can be linked to improved wellbeing through the satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness. In this context, it is likely that young people who feel a sense of ‘valued-fit’ within educational settings, and who have a positive perception of their inherent worthiness, may be more likely to value and pursue educational goals than young people with a lower 9

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT sense of belonging. Here too, sense of belonging can be conceptualised as a proximal mechanism that may attenuate the negative impact of childhood adversity through cognitive

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representations of the self as worthy and capable.

1.3.3 Parenting and Belonging

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Research with out-of-home care populations has also identified an increased risk for early parenthood (Dworksy & Courtney, 2010; Farber, 2014; Mendes, 2009; Putnam-Hornstein &

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King, 2014). In general, pregnancy and early parenthood have been conceptualised as risk factors for a range of negative outcomes, including poorer educational attainment, greater

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unemployment and an increased likelihood of welfare dependence (Hook & Courtney, 2011). The actual impact of pregnancy and parenthood, however, appears to be rather more complex. For example, Lee et al (2012) found that for young women in their sample of

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former foster care youth, having a resident child at age 21 significantly decreased the odds of a criminal conviction, arrest and incarceration, but had no effect on engaging in criminal

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behaviour. For young men, having at least one resident child decreased the odds of arrest. Other researchers have also indicated that parenthood may serve a protective factor, in so far as it is perceived by the young mothers to be a positive experience; an opportunity to

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exercise control and autonomy over one’s life, and to develop a ‘secure base’ of their own (Pryce & Samuels, 2010).

Underlying these arguments is a clear link to sense of belonging. To date, however, the role of belonging as a mechanism through which adversity contributes to early parenthood has not been widely investigated. Conceptually, it can be postulated that the need to feel valued, nurtured and protected may find expression in parenting. In this context, a lower sense of belonging may provide a proximal link between early experiences of adversity and becoming a parent in the period of emerging adulthood.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1.4. Aims/hypotheses In light of the literature discussed in sections 1.1 to 1.3, the aim of this study is to investigate sense of belonging as a mechanism through which experiences of childhood adversity

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evidence, the study will test the following hypotheses:

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influence three psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood. Drawing on the available

1) Childhood adversity will predict a lower sense of belonging and a heightened level of

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psychological distress in emerging adulthood.

2) Childhood adversity will predict the likelihood of educational engagement and parenthood

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in emerging adulthood.

3) Sense of belonging will mediate the relationship between childhood experiences of adversity and a) psychological distress, b) educational engagement, and c) parenthood in

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emerging adulthood.

2.1. Participants

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2. Method

Participants were 275 young people engaged with a variety of services and programs

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provided by community-based agencies in Australia. These services included homelessness support, mental health, drug and alcohol, intensive case management for young people who had exited the out-of-home care system, mentoring programs for young people at risk of criminal justice involvement, and drop-in centres. Twenty-one cases were removed from the sample due to missing data across all variables. The final sample consisted of 254 young people aged 17 to 21 years old (M=18.89, SD=1.45). The majority were female (62.9%, n=158) and identified as Anglo-Australian (89.3%, n=226).

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2.2. Measures The Sense of Belonging Instrument – Psychological (SOBI-P; Hagerty & Patusky, 1995) consists of 18 items that tap into the psychological dimension of belonging, namely, feeling

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valued and accepted within one’s social environment. Example items include “I often wonder if there is any place on earth where I really fit in”, “I feel like an outsider in most situations’,

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and “I am not valued by or important to my friends”. Seventeen items are worded in the negative and scored on a 4-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4

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(strongly agree). An additional item is positively worded and reverse scored. The total score ranges from 18 to 72 with higher scores indicative of lower sense of belonging. Cronbach’s

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alpha with this sample was 0.93 indicating excellent internal reliability.

Childhood adversity was conceptualised as a multifaceted construct that encapsulates a

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range of experiences/factors that increase the potential for disrupted attachment, trauma and social disadvantage. The Childhood Difficulties Scale was specifically developed for this

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project and is comprised of 19 items rated dichotomously as present/absent. The items were derived from existing literature and reflect empirically established childhood predictors of

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poor developmental outcomes.

The 19 adversity items include physical and sexual abuse (e.g., I’ve been hurt by someone, I’ve been exposed to unwanted sexual behaviour), neglect (e.g., I’ve been left alone without adults to care for me), social disadvantage (e.g., I did not have enough to eat), family disruption (e.g., My parents separated or divorced, I lived away from my parents), exposure to violence, parental drug and alcohol misuse/abuse, parental mental health problems, parental criminality, exposure to/experience of dangerous situations (e.g., I ran away from home, I’ve been in a bad accident) , and loss (e.g., I had a very close friend or family member die). Participants were asked to indicate whether they had experienced any of the 19 events at any time up to their 18th birthday. Items were summed to obtain a ‘total’ 12

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT adversity score ranging from 0 to 19. Higher scores reflect a greater number of adverse experiences that occurred during childhood and adolescence. The Childhood Difficulties

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Scale showed high internal reliability with this sample ( = .88).

Psychological distress was measured with the K6 (Kessler et al., 2003) a six item screening

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measure for generalised psychological distress, as experienced over a period of 30 days. Items include, “Felt too tired to do things”, “Felt unhappy, sad or depressed” and “Felt

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hopeless about the future”. Each item is rated on a 5-point rating scale from 0 (completely absent) to 4 (present all of the time). For this project, two important modifications were made

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to the scale. First, the reference period was modified from 30 days to 7 days1. Second, items were scored on a 3-point scale, ranging from 0 (rarely) to 3 (often). Scores were then summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 18, with higher scores indicative of

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greater psychological distress. The Cronbach’s alpha for this modified scale was .83,

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indicating good internal reliability.

Educational engagement and parenting status were dichotomously coded. Participants were asked to indicate whether they were currently attending an educational institution and

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whether they had, or were expecting a child. In both cases, a ‘no’ response was coded 0.

A range of demographic variables were also captured, including gender, age, cultural identity and Indigenous background, current living arrangements, highest level of education achieved, current employment and relationship status and subjective wellbeing.

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A 7-day reference period was chosen as most appropriate for this group, who tend to experience acute episodes of crisis that are context-specific and therefore subject to meaningful and potentially rapid fluctuations in the expression of psychological distress. Moreover, this project did not seek to establish prevalence rates, or to gain a better understanding of the clinical needs of this group. For this reason, the modified reference period was deemed to more accurately capture how young people were feeling at a time more proximate to data collection. It is possible, however, that this change altered the sensitivity of the instrument, although this is mitigated by the strong internal coefficient, and the fact that a large proportion of the sample were categorised as ‘high’ on psychological distress.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT In addition to the quantitative measures, participants were also provided with the opportunity to describe their experiences of childhood adversity and belonging. These qualitative responses sought to gather more detailed and nuanced information regarding young

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people’s definitions and understanding of belonging, social support, and their goals for the future. The qualitative data form the basis of a forthcoming publication (Due et al.,

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forthcoming).

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2.3. Procedure

Ethical clearance was received from an independent, fully constituted ethics committee.

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Approval was also received from the relevant department in each state with statutory care of children and young people2. Data were collected over a six week period between April and

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May 2014.

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This study draws on data from a larger, national project which explored young people’s

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experience of social connectedness. All young people aged 17 to 21 who were actively engaged in a service provided by a total of 19 community-based, not-for-profit organisations

care3.

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were in scope for the study. This included young people on statutory orders in out-of-home

Eligible young people were identified by their program and case managers, based on their knowledge of each young person’s circumstances and current functioning. Workers were given discretion to select-out young people who were judged to be experiencing significant

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One state refused to grant permission to recruit young people in out-of-home care and another provided permission once data collection had already been completed. No young people on statutory orders at the time of the study were recruited in either of those jurisdictions. 3 Each state and territory in Australia has its own child protection system and corresponding statutory framework. Despite some variations in the thresholds for child removal and the legislative frameworks that support placement in out of home care, young people in every state and territory ‘age out’ or exit th the system on their 18 birthday. As a result, only a small proportion of the population in scope for the national project were in care at the time of data collection.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT hardship at the time of data collection and/or who would be likely to experience distress by taking part in the study.

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2.4. Analytical strategy

Correlation and logic regression analyses were conducted to test the association between

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childhood adversities, sense of belonging, psychological distress, educational engagement and parenting status. These analyses were followed by three simple mediation models,

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where sense of belonging served as the mediator variable.

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In a series of publications, Hayes and colleagues have elaborated a procedure for testing mediation pathways that moves away from the Baron and Kenny method, by quantifying the indirect effect and calculating bootstrapped confidence intervals to test its significance.

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Hayes’ (2009, 2013) test of mediation redefines many of the previous statistical assumptions regarding the presence of a significant association between X and Y, as well as X and M

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prior to testing for a mediated relationship. Put simply, Hayes and colleagues have argued that an indirect effect is both statistically and conceptually possible even in the absence of a total effect between the predictor and the outcome (e.g., Hayes, 2009, Hayes & Scharkow,

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2013, Preacher & Hayes, 2004). In many instances, the predictor may not provide strong estimates of the outcome due to the influence of a range of other potential factors that may or may not have been included in the model. It is therefore possible that the effect of X on Y will only be observed through the inclusion of other variables in the model, including mediator variables. For these reasons, the Hayes model of mediation provides a more robust assessment of mediation pathways. All analyses were run in SPSS 23 utilising the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013).

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3. Results 3.1. Demographic characteristics Young people in this study had experienced a substantial amount of placement instability4 as

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indicated by the high proportion of young people who had experienced more than 10 placements by the age of 17 years. At the time of data collection, close to 13% of

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participants reported living in ‘another’ type of arrangement, with qualitative responses indicating that the majority of these individuals were in fact homeless (i.e., couch-surfing,

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staying with friends, living on the street).

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Eighty-five percent had completed some of their secondary education, with the highest proportion having only completed Year 10 or equivalent. Consistent with extant knowledge about the educational disengagement evident amongst young people from disadvantaged

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backgrounds, close to half of the sample reported not being engaged with any type of learning institution at the time of data collection. Just over one-fifth already had, or were

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expecting a child.

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Table 1 Demographic profile of study participants. Demographic characteristics

Proportion/ M (SD)

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Anglo-Australia

12.2% 89.3%

Placement stability and living arrangements Placement/ living stability up to age 17 Lived in 1 to 2 places Lived in 3 to 5 places Lived in 6 to 10 places Lived in more than 10 places

22.0% 28.9% 23.3% 25.9%

Current living arrangements Living with guardians (parents/carers)

42.3%

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‘Placement instability’ is defined as the number of different homes a young person had lived in since birth but prior to moving to independent living. While it is not directly equivalent with the idea of ‘placement changes’ as defined in the OoHC literature, it nevertheless speaks to the issue of disruption.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 16.7% 41.0%

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Employment status (n=120) Working (part-time) Studying (full-time) Working and studying Not working or studying

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Current engagement with education Not attending any learning institution Attending high school Completing an apprenticeship or traineeship Attending a private college or institution Attending university

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Education and employment Highest level of completed education Primary school Some secondary schooling - Year 9 or below Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 TAFE Undergraduate degree

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Living in assisted accommodation Living independently

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Relationships and parenting Living with a partner Had, or expecting a child

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Psychological wellbeing Generalised psychological distress Low High

0.4% 14.2% 26.8% 22.4% 21.7% 11.0% 1.6%

47.6% 14.6% 3.5% 9.1% 9.8%

12.5% 58.3% 25.8% 3.3%

21.3% 22.0%

29.9% 70.1%

Childhood Difficulties Scale

7.97 (4.32)

Sense of Belonging Instrument

42.43 (9.09)

K6

11.61 (3.27)

A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the association between childhood adversity, low sense of belonging, psychological distress and parenting status. Table 2 shows that psychological distress had a moderate and positive association with childhood adversity and low sense of belonging, but only a weak correlation with parenting status. Similarly, childhood adversity had a weak-to-moderate association with low sense of belonging. Biserial correlations were computed between educational engagement, 17

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT psychological distress, childhood adversity, low sense of belonging and parenting status. Based on these calculations educational engagement had a positive and significant association with childhood adversity and parenting status, while parenting status had a

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weak, positive association with psychological distress.

Psychological distress

Childhood adversity

Psychological distress

-

.34

Childhood adversity

-

-

Low sense of belonging

-

Parenting status

-

Low sense of belonging

Parenting status

Engaged in education

.15

*

.13

.26

**

.05

.18

-

-

-.02

.09

-

-

-

.33

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**

.36

*

**

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** p < 0.01 (2-tailed) * p<.05 (2-tailed)

**

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Table 2 Correlation matrix for childhood adversity, sense of belonging, psychological distress, parenting status, and educational engagement.

3.2. Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychological distress A model testing the simple mediation between childhood adversity and psychological

in Figure1.

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distress in emerging adulthood, through the influence of low sense of belonging is presented

Figure 1 The effect of childhood adversity on psychological distress through low sense of belonging (n=254). **

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Experiences of childhood adversity

Low sense of belonging

.20

**

.11

**

Psychological distress

**

p < 0.001 (2-tailed). Note: All coefficients are unstandardized

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The model including experiences of childhood adversity and low sense of belonging was a significant fit for the data, accounting for 19% of the variance in psychological distress (R2=.19, F(2,25) = 30.27, p<.001). As hypothesised, there was a significant direct effect of

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childhood adversity on psychological distress, such that when sense of belonging was not included in the model, a greater number of reported adverse experiences in childhood led to

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a heightened level of psychological distress in emerging adulthood. Consistent with the pattern of correlations, there was a significant relationship between childhood adversity and

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low sense of belonging, and between low sense of belonging and psychological distress. Finally, there was a significant, but small indirect effect (b=.08, BCa CI [0.03, 0.14],

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confirming the mediation hypothesis. Specifically, the impact of childhood adversity on psychological distress was in part explained by a person’s low sense of belonging.

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3.3. Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and educational engagement A logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate how each predictor affected the

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odds of educational engagement when childhood adversity and sense of belonging were entered into the regression equation simultaneously. In these analyses educational engagement is a binary measure that records whether a young person reported attending

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school or another learning institution (secondary, post-secondary/tertiary or vocational) at the time of data collection.

Table 3 Logistic regression coefficients predicting educational engagement from childhood adversity and sense of belonging (n=254). 95% CI b (SE)

Odds ratio

Constant

-0.43 (0.62)

0.65

Childhood adversity

-0.08 (0.03)

*

0.92

Lower

Upper

0.87

0.98

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Low sense of belonging

0.03 (0.02)

1.03

0.99

1.06

2

* p <.05, Nagelkerke R = 0.05

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The model including childhood adversity and sense of belonging was a good fit for the data

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(-2LL = 337.96, 2(2) = 5.02, p<.05), but only accounted for 5% of the prediction of

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educational engagement. In this model childhood adversity was the only significant predictor of educational engagement, indicating that as the number of adverse experiences in

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childhood increase, the odds of attending an educational institution in emerging adulthood decrease. Low sense of belonging did not predict educational engagement in this model.

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Consistent with Hayes’ and colleagues theory of mediation analyses, the absence of a relationship between a predictor and a mediator does not negate the potential existence of a mediation effect (see for example, Hayes, 2013). As such, a second mediation model was

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developed to test the effect of low sense of belonging on the relationship between childhood

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adversity and educational engagement.

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Figure 2 Low sense of belonging as a mediator between childhood adversity and educational engagement in emerging adulthood (n=250). Low sense of belonging

**

.54

Experiences of childhood adversity

.03

.-0.08

*

Educational engagement

**

p < 0.001 (2-tailed), *BCa CI 95%. Note: All coefficients are unstandardized

As Figure 2 shows, there was a significant pathway from childhood adversity to low sense of belonging, and a significant, direct effect of childhood adversity on educational engagement, Specifically, when sense of belonging was not included in the model, young people who 20

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT reported a greater number of adverse experiences in childhood were significantly less likely to be attending educational institutions in emerging adulthood.

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Despite the non-significant pathway from low sense of belonging to educational engagement, there was nevertheless a significant, albeit marginal, indirect effect of

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childhood adversity through low sense of belonging on the likelihood of educational engagement (b=0.01, BCa CI [0.00, 0.03]). These results provide weak support for the

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mediation hypothesis.

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3.4. Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and early parenthood The final model tested the effect of sense of belonging on the relationship between childhood adversity and the likelihood of being a parent in emerging adulthood. Table 4

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presents the results of a logistic regression, with childhood adversity and low sense of

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belonging as the predictors. This model was a poor fit for the data (-2LL = 261.01, 2(2) =

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0.82, p = 0.66). Furthermore, neither childhood adversity nor low sense of belonging

Table 4

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predicted parenting status amongst this sample of young people.

Logistic regression coefficients predicting parenting status from childhood adversity and low sense of belonging (n=254). 95% CI b (SE)

Odds ratio

Constant

-1.09 (0.75)

0.34

Childhood adversity

0.03 (0.04)

Low sense of belonging

-0.01 (0.02)

Lower

Upper

1.03

0.96

1.11

0.99

0.96

1.03

2

Nagelkerke R = 0.005

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Despite these small and non-significant effects a mediation model was developed to examine whether childhood adversity may exert an effect on early parenthood through its

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relationship with low sense of belonging. The model is presented in Figure 3.

.03

-.01

Early parenthood

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Experiences of childhood adversity

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Low sense of belonging

*

.47

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Figure 3 Low sense of belonging as a mediator between childhood adversity and early parenthood (n=242).

*

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p < 0.01 (2-tailed) Note: All coefficients are unstandardized

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Consistent with the relationships observed so far, there was a statistically significant pathway from childhood adversity to sense of belonging. Unlike the previous two models,

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however, no other pathways were significant. No support was found for a direct link between childhood adversity and early parenthood when sense of belonging was not factored into the model (b = 0.03, BCa CI [-0.04, 0.09]), or an indirect pathway through

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sense of belonging (b = -0.00, BCa CI [-0.03, 0.01]). As such, there was no support for the hypothesis that sense of belonging mediates the relationship between early experiences of adversity and the likelihood of becoming a parent in early adulthood5.

4. Discussion The profile of young people in this sample is largely reflective of the characteristics of young people who have experienced adversity and disadvantage throughout childhood and

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To examine whether this relationship may have been influenced by gender another mediation model was constructed where gender was included as a covariate. The results of the analysis remained unchanged (direct effect of childhood adversity on parenting controlling for belonging b = 0.02, BCa CI [-0.05, 0.09], and indirect effect of childhood adversity on parenting, through belonging (b = -0.00 BCa CI [-0.03, 0.01]).

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT adolescence (Berzin, 2008; Cashmore & Paxman, 2006; Courtney & Dworsky, 2006; Courtney et al., 2012). As detailed in Section 3.1, these young people had experienced significant instability during childhood and adolescence, were disengaged from education

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and employment, and a very high proportion showed elevated levels of psychological distress. There was also a high level of homelessness amongst this sample, which is again

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consistent with the instability and lack of support experienced by many young people with histories of adversity and disadvantage (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012;

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Ferguson, 2008). While childhood experiences are important, their salience diminishes as individuals progress through the life-course (Appleyard, Egeland, van Dulmen & Sroufe,

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2005; O’Connor et al., 2011) and as different experiences and opportunities exert their own influence on the developmental trajectory. In this context, understanding the intermediary mechanisms that can further elucidate the relationship between early traumatic experiences

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and later outcomes becomes increasingly important.

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A psychological sense of valued fit or belonging was hypothesised as one such mechanism. Our results provided some support for the hypotheses that not only is childhood adversity associated with a decreased sense of belonging and a heightened experience of

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psychological distress, but that sense of belonging mediates the relationship between distal experiences of adversity and more proximal manifestations of psychological distress. Although the magnitude of the mediated pathway was small, this finding is consistent with, a large body of literature on the effects of early trauma on psychopathology in adulthood (e.g., Edwards et al., 2003; Hankin, 2005; LaNoue, Greaber, Hernandez, Warner & Helitzer, 2012; Wright et al., 2009). Moreover, this finding provides preliminary support for the contention that the pathway from experiences of abuse, neglect, maltreatment and adversity to psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood are best conceptualised as operating through intermediary mechanisms. This study proposed that one such mechanisms is sense of belonging, or the way individuals perceive their intrinsic value within their social worlds. 23

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The attachment literature provides a framework for understanding how a sense of belonging can influence psychological functioning resulting from experiences of adversity. Traumatic

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experiences occurring early in life, especially those that disrupt relational attachments between a child and his/her primary carer, have been found to lead to the development of

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internal working models grounded in beliefs about the self as unworthy and ‘bad’, others as inherently untrustworthy, and the social world as potentially malevolent (Harvey et al., 2012;

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Riggs, 2010). As an individual matures, these internal working models have the potential to become entrenched through further experiences of adversity, hardship and trauma (Sroufe,

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Coffino & Carlson, 2010). Such working models fundamentally erode an individual’s sense of belonging, leading to increased anxiety, depression and dissociation (Wright et al., 2009).

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Our hypothesis that childhood adversity and sense of belonging would predict educational engagement was only partially supported. Although childhood adversity was associated with

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decreased odds of educational engagement, this effect was small. Moreover, there was no association between sense of belonging and educational engagement. There was, however, some evidence of a mediated effect, such that greater experiences of childhood adversity

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resulted in a decreased sense of belonging, which in turn reduced the odds of educational engagement. Despite this evidence, the magnitude of the indirect effect was very small indicating that while sense of belonging may contribute to educational engagement, other factors not included in this model are likely to play a more significant role.

In this context, concepts drawn from Self-Determination Theory (SDT: Deci & Ryan, 2000) may provide alternative mediators that can further elucidate the relationship between childhood adversity and psychosocial outcomes. As proponents of SDT have shown, autonomy-supportive environments are associated with improved psychological well-being, to the extent that they facilitate need fulfilment (e.g., Bartholomew et al., 2011; Chen et al., 24

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2015; Van Ryzin et al., 2009). In the context of educational engagement, for example, Van Ryzin et al (2009) found that school environments that promote a greater sense of autonomy and self-determination can lead to greater feelings of belonging and connectedness to an

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academic culture where teachers and peers value and support academic progress and achievement. These factors can then contribute to greater school engagement, which finally

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influence positive psychological adjustment (Van Ryzin et al., 2009).

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Belonging may also help to explain resistance to schooling (Bottrell, 2007). Young people who experience marginalisation due to adversity and hardship may view educational

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environments as another institution where their perceived difference is magnified, typically in a negative way. Resistance, in the form of disconnection from schooling, can therefore represent a form of identity construction, where a valued self is defined in relation to similar

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others and grounded in a shared understanding of difference from, and rejection by, the mainstream. Educational institutions, which represent mainstream values and ideals, come

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to represent the ‘other’ and become a site for resistance and differentiation from the mainstream with its overly simplistic representations of the conditions, desires, needs,

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strengths and limitations of marginalised young people (Bottrell, 2007).

The relationship between childhood adversity, belonging and educational engagement is therefore quite complex. It is likely that more sophisticated models incorporating multiple, serial mediators and potentially some moderators are required to more fully explicate the mechanisms through which childhood experiences influence the likelihood of participation in education, especially during the period of emerging adulthood. For example, a sense of belonging may be moderated by stability in living arrangements, which may then mediate perceived social support, which in turn may influence the likelihood of educational engagement. Alternatively, young people’s perceptions of autonomy may mediate their perceptions of relatedness, which may then increase their likelihood of engaging with 25

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT education. Finally, and consistent with the tenets of SDT, it is possible that belonging to a school culture, rather than the broader sense of valued-fit, may be a more relevant mediator between childhood adversity and educational engagement in emerging adulthood. Given

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that need satisfaction is inherently context-dependent, more targeted measures of school belonging are likely to have greater explanatory power in a mediation model. These issues

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require further investigation.

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Contrary to expectations, there was no evidence to support a relationship between childhood adversity, sense of belonging and early parenthood. The absence of a direct effect from

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childhood adversity to early parenthood, although unexpected, is not entirely unsupported in the literature. For example, while young women in out-of-home care have been found to be at a higher risk of teenage pregnancy and early parenthood, there is some evidence that in-

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care experiences exacerbate this risk (Carpenter, Clyman, Davidson & Steiner, 2001; Constantine, Jerman & Constantine, 2009; Mendes, 2009). In this context, childhood

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experiences of adversity may act as a background, or distal risk factor that increases the risk of more proximal contributing factors, but which loses its salience as a direct predictor

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through the life-course.

Conceptually, need satisfaction provides a framework for understanding how experiences of trauma and adversity shape a young person’s desire to form a family at early stages of adulthood. Phenomenological research indicates that young women with histories of trauma experience pregnancy and early parenthood as a positive turning point. Family formation emerges as a central theme in young women’s narratives of autonomy and agency, where parenthood is perceived as an opportunity to alter life trajectories, to provide the type of nurturing and love that they may not have experienced in their own childhoods, and to develop a sense of self and place in the world (Farber, 2014; Pryce & Samuels, 2010).

26

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

It is possible, therefore, that sense of belonging as measured in this study does not adequately capture the myriad ways that relatedness is experienced, particularly in relation

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to parenting and parenthood. Rather than a psychological measure of ‘valued fit’ or worthiness, parenthood may be more closely linked with a sense of connection to others, a

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desire to nurture and be nurtured, and a sense of purpose or function. All of these factors reflect the drive towards need satisfaction, and are likely therefore to be associated with

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qualitatively distinct cognitive representations of the self, the self-in-relation-to others, and

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the self-in-relation-to the world.

Although the results of this study provide some support for the hypothesis that sense of belonging is one mechanism through which early experiences of adversity can influence

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psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood, the magnitude of the identified effects was quite small, highlighting the need for further exploration of belonging, both from a conceptual

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and empirical perspective. To the extent that a sense of belonging is influenced by, and informs, a person’s understanding of the self as valued and valuable, it is likely linked to broader narrative and discursive strategies that allow an individual to integrate the past with

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an understanding of the self in the present and a ‘desired self’ in the future (McAdams, 1997). For example, research by Samuels and Pryce (2008) with young people who have exited the out-of-home care system reinforces the importance of these narratives in understanding how young people derive meaning from their experiences in constructing an identity, particularly as ‘self-reliant survivalists’. These self-constructions were informed by experiences of ‘growing up young’, which drew on narratives of rejection, abandonment, abuse, disconnection from, and loss of family and the concomitant psychological assault of losing a sense of place and security. Samuels and Pryce (2008) further argued that in-care experiences of instability contributed to the young people’s sense of not belonging. The narrative of ‘survivalist self-reliance’ was informed by experiences linked to the absence of 27

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT connection to important and valued others, a sense that one did not fit or belong to meaningful interpersonal connections, and that support, whether practical, emotional or social, was not forthcoming. These narratives once again point to the important role of need

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satisfaction in contributing to psychological wellbeing.

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The research by Samuels and Pryce (2008) highlights that a sense of belonging weaves its way through personal narratives, that link past experiences to an emerging and developing

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understanding of the self. To more fully appreciate the way belonging mediates past experiences of adversity, hardship and trauma it is necessary to measure belonging in a way

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that captures the nuanced and dynamic way that it is experienced and understood at various stages of the life-course. The study presented here provides one way that such an understanding can begin to be developed. Further research, involving both quantitative and

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qualitative methodologies is needed to more fully explicate the relationship between childhood adversities, belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood and

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beyond.

A number of limitations to this study need to be acknowledged. The cross-sectional nature of

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our study means our results cannot elucidate any causal pathways from childhood adversity to psychosocial functioning in emerging adulthood.

At a conceptual level, sense of belonging is situated within a broader theoretical framework that articulates need satisfaction as fundamental to psychological wellbeing. The inclusion of multiple mediators that can adequately tap into various elements of autonomy supportive/controlling environments, as well as need satisfaction and need frustration would have enhanced the explanatory power of the current study.

28

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The measure of childhood adversity utilised in this study, while conceptually and psychometrically sound, did not take into account the severity, impact or chronicity of the various adverse experiences. Currently it is unclear whether a linear relationship (e.g.,

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Edwards et al., 2003; Schilling et al., 2008), or a curvilinear relationship, where both low and high levels of adversity are associated with poorer outcomes (Seery et al., 2010), provides

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the best conceptual framework for understanding the impact of childhood adversity. Despite contradictory findings, it is widely acknowledged that the severity, duration and chronicity of

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adverse experiences all influence outcomes at various stages of the life-course. As such, it is possible that our measure of childhood adversity was not able to tap into these complex

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relationships with sufficient sensitivity.

Furthermore, our measure of childhood adversity relied on participants to self-report

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traumatic and/or adverse experiences that had potentially occurred during early stages of their childhood. It is possible that some participants either did not recall, or did not wish to

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report on, such experiences. It is possible that some participants did not interpret their experiences as traumatic, which may have affected their responses to the survey. The nature of the questionnaire, however, mitigates against this latter concern, as participants

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were not asked to make evaluative judgements about the severity of the acts, or about whether they perceived those acts as traumatic. Instead, participants were asked to indicate whether a number of factual events had occurred throughout their childhood.

Although the problem of recollection bias cannot be minimised, participants were free to report on whether they had experienced any of the adverse events at any period up to their 18th birthday. While this does not mitigate against the possibility that early experiences of abuse, neglect, maltreatment and adversity were not adequately captured in this study, participants were able to report on experiences that had occurred during more proximal stages of their childhood and adolescence. 29

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Despite these limitations, our findings confirm that sense of belonging can make a contribution to an understanding of the pathway from childhood adversity to psychosocial

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outcomes in emerging adulthood. From a theoretical perspective, these results point towards sense of belonging as a potential protective factor for young people who have experienced

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adversity, hardship and trauma. The relational schemas that underlie a sense of belonging speak to the importance of fostering positive, nurturing and supportive relationships in the

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lives of young people. These relationships provide the cognitive and affective templates that contribute to a sense of ‘valued fit’ and self-worth, and that may contribute to a shift in the

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life-trajectories of these young people.

From a service perspective, the importance of relationships and interpersonal connections is

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intuitively understood but at times subverted in the language of ‘outcomes’ (Noble-Carr et al., 2014). Fundamentally, however, community-based organisations that work with marginalised

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young people are ideally positioned to provide opportunities for a sense of belonging to be nurtured and developed. If belonging is seen as a mechanism through which meaningful outcomes can be achieved, an increased focus on relationships can sit alongside, rather

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than in opposition to, outcomes-focussed work. Put simply, developing relationships that foster a sense of belonging and connection becomes a vehicle through which outcomes linked to mental health, educational engagement, employment and reductions in risk-taking behaviour can be achieved. What is needed, therefore, is a greater policy emphasis on longer-term programs that allow for a more explicit emphasis on fostering relatedness.

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Pryce, J.M., & Samuels, G.M. (2010). Renewal and risk: the dual experience of motherhood and aging out of the child welfare system. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(2), 205-230. doi: 10.1177/0743558409350500

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Riggs, S.A. (2010). Childhood emotional abuse and the attachment system across the life cycle: What theory and research tell us. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19(1), 5-51. doi: 10.1080/10926770903475968

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Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). The darker and brighter sides of human existence: Basic psychological needs as a unifying concept. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 319-338.

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Ryan, R.M., Legate, N., Niemiec, C.P., & Deci, E.L. (2012). Beyond illusions and defense: Exploring the possibilities and limits of human autonomy and responsibility through selfdetermination theory. In, P.R. Shaver & M. Mikulincer (Eds.), Meaning, mortality, and choice: The social psychology of existential concerns (pp. 215-233). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association. Samuels, G.M., & Pryce, J.M. (2008). “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”: Survivalist self-reliance as resilience and risk among young adults aging out of foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(10), 1198-1210. doi: 10.106/j.childyouth.2008.03.005. Schilling, E.A., Aseltine, R.H., & Gore, S. (2008). The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations. Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1140-1151. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.11.023 Seery, M.D., Holman, E.A., & Silver, R.C. (2010). Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 1025-1041. doi: 10.1037/a0021344

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Sroufe, L.A., Coffino, B., & Carlson, E.A. (2010). Conceptualizing the role of early experience: Lessons from the Minnesota longitudinal study. Developmental Review, 30, 3651. doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2009.12.002.

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Van Ryzin, M.J., Gravely, A.A., & Roseth, C.J. (2009). Autonomy, belongingness, and engagement in school as contributors to adolescent psychological well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10964-007-9257-4

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Wright, M.O., Crawford, E., & Castillo, D.D. (2009). Childhood emotional maltreatment and later psychological distress among college students: The mediating role of maladaptive schemas. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.12.007.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Declaration of conflict of interest All authors declare that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest in this study or the preparation of the manuscript, including financial, personal, or other relationships with other

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people or organisations within three years of beginning the submitted work that would inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, this study or the dissemination of

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results.

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Declaration of funding

Financial support for the conduct of research was provided by Anglicare Australia. Anglicare

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Australia oversaw the design and deployment of the project, but did not have a direct involvement in collection or analysis of the data. A representative of Anglicare Australia was part of the reference group and provided oversight in relation to the interpretation and

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dissemination of results from the original study. No funding was received for the preparation of this manuscript. The decision to submit to Children and Youth Services Review was made

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by the first author in consultation with the co-authors.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Childhood adversity, sense of belonging and psychosocial outcomes in emerging adulthood: A test of mediated pathways Highlights:

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 This study utilised a large, national sample of young people in emerging adulthood,

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recruited from 19 community service organisations located throughout Australia

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 Results indicated that childhood adversity influences heightened psychological distress in emerging adulthood through a low sense of belonging

 Results further indicate a mediated relationship between childhood adversity and decreased likelihood of educational engagement in emerging adulthood. This effect,

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however was small in magnitude, indicating that other mechanisms are likely to provide greater explanatory power for this relationship

 Contrary to predictions, sense of belonging did not mediate the relationship between

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childhood adversity and early parenthood

 The results of this study indicate that sense of belonging, when considered within a framework that underscore fundamental human needs associated with autonomy,

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relatedness and competence, provides a theoretically rich construct that can help further

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elucidate the mechanisms through which early experiences of adversity affect psychosocial

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adjustment in emerging adulthood.

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