Childhood trauma is associated with poor health outcomes in adulthood, largely due to the impact of chronic stress on the body. Fortunately, there are certain protective characteristics, such as constraint (i.e., impulse control, inhibition, and avoidance of unconventional behavior and risk) and cognitive reappraisal (i.e., reframing circumstances in a more positive light). In the present study, we investigated the interaction between childhood trauma, resilience, and neural correlates of emotion processing. Participants responded to survey questions regarding childhood trauma and resilient characteristics. They were later invited to passively view neutral, unpleasant, and pleasant images while their brain activity was recorded via electroencephalography (EEG). We analyzed two event-related potential (ERP) components of interest: the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) and Late Positive Potential (LPP). We found that childhood trauma was associated with decreased constraint and reduced sensitivity to unpleasant images (i.e., decreased LPP amplitude differences between neutral and unpleasant images as compared to controls). Further, constraint predicted increased sensitivity to pleasant images. In a hierarchical linear regression analysis, we found that constraint moderated the relation between childhood trauma and emotion processing, such that it predicted increased sensitivity to unpleasant images for adults with childhood trauma in particular. Childhood trauma and cognitive reappraisal independently predicted decreased sensitivity to unpleasant images, (i.e., decreased LPP amplitude differences between neutral and unpleasant images). Our findings suggest that childhood trauma and resilient characteristics independently and interactively influence emotion processing.

童年创伤与成年后健康状况不佳有关，这主要是由于慢性压力对身体的影响。幸运的是，存在某些保护性特征，例如约束（即冲动控制、抑制和避免非常规行为和风险）和认知重新评估（即以更积极的角度重新构建环境）。在本研究中，我们研究了童年创伤、复原力和情绪处理的神经相关因素之间的相互作用。参与者回答了有关童年创伤和复原特征的调查问题。随后，他们被邀请被动地观看中性、不愉快和愉快的图像，同时通过脑电图（EEG）记录他们的大脑活动。我们分析了两个感兴趣的事件相关电位 (ERP) 组成部分：早期后向负电位 (EPN) 和晚期正电位 (LPP)。我们发现，童年创伤与约束减少和对不愉快图像的敏感性降低有关（即，与对照组相比，中性图像和不愉快图像之间的 LPP 幅度差异减少）。此外，约束预示着对令人愉悦的图像的敏感性会增加。在分层线性回归分析中，我们发现约束调节了童年创伤和情绪处理之间的关系，因此它预测特别是患有童年创伤的成年人对不愉快图像的敏感性增加。童年创伤和认知重新评估独立预测了对不愉快图像的敏感性降低（即中性图像和不愉快图像之间的 LPP 幅度差异降低）。我们的研究结果表明，童年创伤和弹性特征独立且交互地影响情绪处理。