Childhood maltreatment and anger expression during adulthood: an exploration of the impact on mortality risk across 15 years

Childhood maltreatment is linked to increased mortality risk. Underlying mechanisms that may explain this relation are unclear. Childhood maltreatment has also been linked to anger expression in adulthood. This preregistered study examines if anger expression subtypes are an indirect mechanism linking childhood maltreatment and all-cause mortality. The Midlife in United States 2 Biomarker Project included 1,010 participants, 54.7% female, age M = 58.18, SD = 11.58. Childhood maltreatment was measured as abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse) and neglect (physical and emotional). Anger expression subtypes included Anger-In, Anger-Out, and Anger Control. Mortality risk was defined as attained age with follow-up over a 15 year period. Childhood maltreatment was associated with an increase in mortality risk (HR = 1.021, B = 0.021, p = 0.005, 95% CI [0.006, 0.034]). This was robust to adjustments and sensitivity analyses. Childhood maltreatment was associated with Anger-In (B = 0.053, p  0.22). Childhood maltreatment was associated with anger expression and mortality risk. However, anger expression subtypes were not indirect pathways in the maltreatment-mortality relation. Our study did not find evidence that anger expression during adulthood is part of the reason why maltreatment during childhood is linked with longevity.