Childhood Adversity and the Development of Coping

Investigations of individuals exposed to early adversity and associated atypical ontogenesis have the potential to complement, challenge, and extend developmental theories of stress and coping. In this chapter, we focus on child maltreatment as one form of early adversity to illustrate how nonnormative caregiving experiences can shape how children respond to stress over the course of development. Specifically, we argue that abusive and neglectful caregiving environments shape psychobiological systems in such a way that a) restricts access to learning experiences and executive resources requisite for more sophisticated forms of coping, and b) increases the likelihood of rudimentary coping skill utilization and involuntary stress responding. We support our argument with a review of literature on how maltreatment adversely impacts psychosocial processes and biological mechanisms (e.g., neuroendocrine, inflammation, neurocognitive, neurobiological) requisite for the healthy development of engagement coping skills (e.g., problem-solving, support-seeking) and discuss translational implications therein.