Riddhi Chatterjee, and Sweta Sah
Sister Nivedita University, West Bengal
Pages: 431-440
SThis study explores how specific adverse experiences during childhood influence distress
tolerance, cognitive flexibility, and emotion regulation in adulthood. A range of
standardized tools was used: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form (CTQ-SF)
to assess childhood adversity, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) for psychological
screening, Distress tolerance scale to identify the level of stress tolerance of the
participants, Cognitive flexibility scale to identify the cognitive flexibility, Emotion
regulation scale to assess emotion regulation strategies, including both reappraisal
and suppression, among the participants. A total of 120 participants were selected
through purposive sampling. The results suggest that adverse childhood experiences
such as physical neglect, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse
significantly influence an individual’s ability to tolerate distress and regulate emotions
using strategies like reappraisal and suppression. It also revealed that, individuals
suffering from abuse (both emotional and sexual) have a higher tolerance of distress,
than individuals suffering from neglect (physical or emotional). Those who have faced
emotional abuse and physical neglect in their early years often manage their emotions
by holding them in, rather than expressing them outwardly. Individuals with a history of
sexual abuse and emotional neglect often attempt to manage their emotions by identifying
and reframing their thoughts and perceptions of situations, thereby altering their
emotional response.