(87) The Impacts of Adversity on Regulatory Strengths in Women and Men

Purpose: Regulatory strengths are believed to aid individuals in coping with and responding to adverse life events. This study aims to understand how exposure to lifetime adversity impacts regulatory strengths, including... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: Regulatory strengths are believed to aid individuals in coping with and responding to adverse life events. This study aims to understand how exposure to lifetime adversity impacts regulatory strengths, including impulse control, endurance, recovering positive affect, and self-reliance in a rural, adult sample. It also examined

gender differences.

Methods: The sample included 357 individuals (65.8% female) ages 18 and up with a mean age of 37.6 years (SD= 15.6). Participants took a survey utilizing the Resilience Portfolio model that assessed multiple types of regulatory strengths as well as adverse experiences, such as financial strain or the death of a close friend or family member.

Results:  While no interactions of exposure to adversity and gender were identified, gender was associated with impulse control, in that men reported lower impulse control than women. Men also reported lower self-reliance than women. Also, as individuals experienced more lifetime adversities, they scored higher on endurance.

Conclusions: There was a significant effect of gender on impulse control and self-reliance with men showing decreased levels of both strengths compared to women. Clinicians could work with men more specifically on areas of strengths, such as impulse control. For the full sample, adversity was associated with higher levels of endurance. This suggests that adversity may contribute to the development of endurance.