TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - To trust or not to trust in the thrall of the COVID-19 pandemic: conspiracy endorsement and the role of adverse childhood experiences, epistemic trust, and personality functioning
JO  - Social science and medicine (1982)
A1  - Kampling, Hanna
A1  - Riedl, David
A1  - Hettich, Nora
A1  - Lampe, Astrid
A1  - Nolte, Tobias
A1  - Zara, Sandra
A1  - Ernst, Mareike
A1  - Brahler, Elmar
A1  - Sachser, Cedric
A1  - Fegert, Jörg M.
A1  - Gingelmaier, Stephan
A1  - Fonagy, Peter
A1  - Krakau, Lina
A1  - Kruse, Johannes
SP  - e116526
EP  - e116526
VL  - 341
IS  - 
N2  - RATIONALE: Conspiracy endorsement is a public health challenge for the successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. While usually considered a societal phenomenon, little is known about the equally important developmental backdrops and personality characteristics like mistrust that render an individual prone to conspiracy endorsement. There is a growing body of evidence implying a detrimental role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) - a highly prevalent developmental burden - in the development of epistemic trust and personality functioning. This study aimed to investigate the association between ACEs and conspiracy endorsement in the general population, specifically questioning a mediating role of epistemic trust and personality functioning. <br><br>METHODS: Based on cross-sectional data from a representative German survey collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 2501), we conducted structural equation modelling (SEM) where personality functioning (OPD-SQS) and epistemic trust (ETMCQ) were included as mediators of the association between ACEs and conspiracy endorsement. Bootstrapped confidence intervals (5000 samples, 95%-CI) are presented for all paths. <br><br>RESULTS: ACEs were significantly associated with conspiracy endorsement (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) and explained 6% of its variance. Adding epistemic trust and personality functioning as mediators increased the explained variance of conspiracy endorsement to 19% while the direct association between ACEs and conspiracy endorsement was diminished (β = 0.12, p < 0.001), indicating an indirect effect of personality functioning and epistemic trust in the association between ACEs and conspiracy endorsement. Fit indices confirmed good model fit. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Establishing an association between ACEs and conspiracy endorsement further increases the evidence for early childhood adversities' far-reaching and detrimental effects. By including epistemic trust and personality functioning, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms in the way that ACEs may be associated with conspiracy endorsement.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0277-9536
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116526
ID  - ref1
ER  -