The role of childhood traumas, psychological resilience, and body awareness in cardiovascular diseases

It is known that experiences during childhood have a lifelong impact on various aspects of a person's life. The literature has pointed out that stressful life events during this period increase the risk of chronic diseases. The main purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between Childhood Traumatic Experiences (CT) and Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Among the other objectives of the study are examining the relationships between CT and Psychological Resilience (PR), Body Awareness (BA), and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity (ANSR). Accordingly, data from two separate groups, one with heart disease and one healthy group, aged between 18-55 (M=38, SD=12), were analyzed in the study. 50.2% of the participants (N=164) belonged to the group with CVD, while 49.2% (N=163) were in the healthy group; 52.3% of the total participants (N=171) were female, and 47.7% (N=156) were male. Childhood Traumatic Experiences Scale (CTQ-33), Psychological Resilience Scale and Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ) were used to measure the research variables. When examining the relationship between CT and CVD, it was observed that the sub-dimensions of Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Physical Neglect, and Emotional Neglect were associated with CVD. When investigating the relationship between PR-BA-ANSR and CVD, it was concluded that PR was negatively associated with CVD, while ANSR was positively correlated with CVD. On the other hand, BA did not vary depending on the presence of CVD. Upon analysis of the correlation between PR-BA-ANSR and CT, it was noted that PR exhibited a negative correlation with all CT subdimensions, with the exception of the Denial subdimension. Furthermore, other factors such as the presence of other health problems, psychological diagnoses, primary education level, and low economic income were found to be associated with CVD. The results were discussed in line with relevant literature, and recommendations for future studies were provided.