title: Adult attachment as a moderator of the association between childhood traumatic experiences and depression symptoms among young Black gay and bisexual men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study examined the moderating effect of adult attachment on the association between childhood traumatic experiences, (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and being bullied), age of childhood traumatic experience, and young adult depression symptoms among young Black gay and bisexual men (YBGBM).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-report measures of attachment, childhood traumatic experiences, and depression symptoms were collected from a community-based sample of YBGBM living in New York City (n = 228). Regression analyses were conducted to address the study goals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicated that YBGBM who were more anxious in their adult attachment style and experienced being bullied or physically abused by a non-family member during childhood experienced greater depression in young adulthood than YBGBM who were less anxious in their adult attachment style. In addition, we found that being bullied later in childhood was associated with greater depression symptoms than being bullied earlier. Lastly, we found that YBGBM who were more avoidant and bullied later in adolescence reported more depression symptoms in young adulthood than YBGBM who were less avoidant in their attachment style.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that it may be important to utilize an attachment perspective that is sensitive to age of traumatic experience when creating mental health and trauma interventions for YBGBM. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Stephanie H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valera
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The College of Literature, Sciences and Arts, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Calebs
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D009769:Object Attachment; D055815:Young Adult