





























5

Graduate Student Journal of  Psychology 
2018, Vol. 17

Copyright 2018 by the Department of  Counseling and Clinical Psychology 
Teachers College, Columbia University

Gender as a Moderator in the Association between Childhood 
Trauma and Risk-Taking Propensity

Ashley A. Huggins, Stephanie M. Gorka, and Stewart A. Shankman
University of  Illinois at Chicago

Previous research indicates that in response to acute laboratory stressors, males may become more risk-prone 
whereas females may become more risk-averse. To date, there has been limited research investigating whether 
these gender differences are observed in response to real-world stressors and, more importantly, whether the 
stress by gender interaction on risk-taking propensity (RTP) is observed long after the stressor. Therefore, 
the current study aimed to examine whether gender moderates the association between childhood abuse (i.e., 
a real-world stressor) and individual differences in RTP in adulthood. A community sample of  140 adults 
reported on their history of  childhood abuse and completed a behavioral assessment of  RTP. Different forms 
of  childhood abuse (e.g., physical, emotional) were examined separately. After adjusting for age, a significant 
gender by childhood physical abuse and gender by physical neglect interaction on RTP was found. Specifically, 
women with a history of  physical abuse or neglect exhibited significantly less RTP; however, there was no 
relation between physical abuse or neglect and RTP in men. Gender did not interact with emotional abuse 
to predict RTP. These findings support existing literature demonstrating that gender and stress interact to 
predict individual differences in RTP, but further extend the literature by demonstrating these gender-stress 
interactions exist for distal, real-world stressors.

Risk-taking is a cognitive-behavioral process that 
involves balancing the possibility of  harm with reward 
to ultimately make decisions and guide behavior (Byrnes, 
Miller, & Schafer, 1999; Leigh, 1999). A large body 
of  evidence suggests that individuals differ in their 
propensity to take risks and that these differences are 
linked to the onset and maintenance of  psychopathology 
(Aklin, Lejuez, Zvolensky, Kahler, & Gwadz, 2005; 
Maner et al., 2007; Tull et al., 2009). Therefore, 
understanding factors that influence the development 
of  risk-taking propensity is critical in improving clinical 
prevention and intervention efforts.

One factor that is known to influence risk-taking 
propensity is biological sex. Numerous studies have 
demonstrated that men engage in more risk-taking 
behaviors such as, substance abuse (Nolen-Hoeksema, 
2004; Wilsnack, Vogeltanz, Wilsnack, & Harris, 2000), 
reckless driving (Harré, Field, & Kirkwood, 1996; 
Shinar & Compton, 2004), and financial risk-taking 
(Charness & Gneezy, 2012; Powell & Ansic, 1997) more 

often than women. Men may therefore have an increased 
likelihood of  being risk-prone. In contrast, there is 
some evidence to suggest that women may have an 
increased likelihood of  being risk-averse (Byrnes et al., 
1999; Charness & Gneezy, 2012). Understanding RTP 
in adults is important given that risk-taking propensity is 
a bipolar trait in that too much risk-taking could lead to 
excessive harm, whereas too little could lead to missed 
opportunities for reward (e.g., avoiding social gatherings 
and not meeting a potential romantic partner). In other 
words, a certain amount of  risk-taking is necessary to 
maximize rewards and gains.

Notably, emerging evidence suggests that gender 
differences in risk-taking may become more pronounced 
in response to stress. Specifically, several studies have 
found that in response to an acute laboratory stressor, 
men become more risk-seeking whereas women become 
more risk-avoidant (Daughters, Gorka, Matusiewicz, & 
Anderson, 2013; Lighthall, Mather, & Gorlick, 2009; 
Lighthall et al., 2012). These studies have demonstrated 
a gender-stress interaction on risk-taking propensity in 
both adolescents (Daughters et al., 2013) and adults 
(Lighthall et al., 2009; Lighthall et al., 2012), with both 
acute physical (e.g., cold pressor test) and cognitive (e.g., 

Override (Hidden running head text):
Huggins, Gorka, Shankman
Gender, Childhood Trauma, and 
Risk-Taking Propensity

Keywords: risk-taking propensity, gender, childhood trauma
Please address correspondence regarding this article to: 

ashleyhuggins711@gmail.com



6

HUGGINS, GORKA, SHANKMAN

Behavior Indicator of  Resiliency to Distress; Lejuez 
et al., 2006) stressors. The factors contributing to these 
gender differences are still unclear but are likely related 
to both biological and social processes.

Although the literature strongly suggests that gender 
and stress interact to predict risk-taking behaviors, 
several key questions remain. First, although labora-
tory tasks are effective at inducing distress, it is unclear 
whether these findings generalize to more real-world 
stressors that may more accurately map onto daily func-
tioning. Second, it is unknown whether gender by stress 
interactions are transient phenomena or if  stress can 
have a more prolonged effect on gender differences 
in risk-taking propensity. Determining the long-term 
effects of  gender and stress is necessary to clarify the 
roles of  these variables in the development of  trait-like 
differences in risk-taking propensity.

Childhood abuse is one such real-world stressor that 
has been associated with persistent effects on emotional 
and behavioral functioning. For example, individuals 
reporting a history of  abuse present with higher rates 
of  psychopathology in adulthood (Chapman et al., 2004; 
MacMillan et al., 2001), including disorders associated 
with aberrant risk behavior. Additionally, individu-
als with a history of  abuse during childhood report 
higher rates of  substance abuse (Kilpatrick et al., 2000; 
McCauley et al., 1997) and anxiety disorders (Li, D’Arcy, 
& Meng, 2016; Lindert et al., 2014), which are associ-
ated with increased (Brand et al., 2008; Colder et al., 
2002) and decreased (Charpentier, Aylward, Roiser, & 
Robinson, 2017; Maner et al., 2007) risk-taking, respec-
tively. Independent of  psychiatric diagnoses, abuse 
history has also been associated with increased risk-
taking propensity and sensation-seeking (Bornovalova, 
Gwadz, Kahler, Aklin, & Lejuez, 2008). Although the 
majority of  the extant literature suggests that a history 
of  abuse likely relates to increases in risky behavior 
later in life (Bornovalova et al., 2008; Kilpatrick et al., 
2000; Medrano, Hatch, Zule, & Desmond, 2003), some 
research has indicated the opposite. Sujan and colleagues 
(2014) found that individuals reporting a history of  child 
abuse exhibited less risk-taking propensity. Notably, 
however, none of  the research examining the association 
between abuse history and later risk-taking propensity 
has examined the potential moderating effects of  gender.

Childhood abuse has been found to alter the 
functioning and interplay of  stress and reward circuits 

in the brain (Hart & Rubia, 2012; Lupien, McEwen, 
Gunnar, & Heim, 2009; McCrory, De Brito, & Viding, 
2012). These circuits are critical for risk-taking propensity 
(Elliott, Friston, & Dolan, 2000; Schoenbaum, Roesch, 
& Stalnaker, 2006), and disruption within this system 
may contribute to persistent alterations in risk-taking 
propensity following abuse. For instance, multiple studies 
have demonstrated that childhood trauma may alter 
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning—
the primary stress response system. Dysregulation 
of  the HPA-axis has been found in individuals who 
have experienced abuse (but are free from lifetime 
psychopathology), suggesting that childhood trauma 
may permanently alter baseline HPA-axis reactivity 
independent of  disorder status (Klaassens et al., 2009). 
Studies have also found early life stress to be implicated 
in diminished reward processing (Dillon et al., 2009; 
Pechtel & Pizzagalli, 2011;), which may contribute to 
deficits in the ability to weigh risk-reward decisions 
effectively. These alterations in biological systems 
involved in stress and reward processing may therefore 
be related to altered risk-taking behaviors.

In assessing the long-term correlates of  childhood 
abuse, it is necessary to consider that abuse may take 
several forms: physical, emotional, or sexual. This 
distinction is especially salient because varying forms of  
abuse are associated with overlapping as well as unique 
clinical outcomes (Cougle, Timpano, Sachs-Ericsson, 
Keough, & Riccardi, 2010; MacMillan et al., 2001; 
Widom, DuMont, & Czaja, 2007). For example, physi-
cal abuse has been shown to be more robustly associated 
with aggression (Banducci, Hoffman, Lejuez, & Koenen, 
2014; Briere & Runtz, 1990) and hyperactive amygdala 
reactivity (Grant, Cannistraci, Hollon, Gore, & Shelton, 
2011) than sexual or emotional abuse. Additionally, 
emotional abuse may be more strongly associated with 
a number of  maladaptive cognitions (Wright, Crawford, 
& Del Castillo, 2009), including low self-esteem (Briere 
& Runtz, 1990; Gross & Keller, 1992) and shame 
(Hoglund & Nicholas, 1995). It is also uniquely predic-
tive of  the development of  eating disorders (Guillaume 
et al., 2016; Kent, Waller, & Dagnan, 1999). Thus, the 
literature suggests that childhood maltreatment is a 
multidimensional construct and that varying forms of  
abuse may not impact outcomes uniformly.

The purpose of  the current study was to examine 
whether gender differences in risk-taking propensity 



7

GENDER, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, AND RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY

are impacted by a history of  childhood abuse, a 
traumatic—but distal—stressor, in a community sample 
of  adults. As different forms of  abuse may impact stress 
responding and risk-taking differently, the effects of  
different forms of  abuse were examined separately. 
Age was adjusted for in all analyses, as research has 
indicated reductions in risk-taking across development 
(Defoe, Dubas, Figner, & van Aken, 2015; Mamerow, 
Frey, & Mata, 2016). It was hypothesized that gender 
would interact with childhood abuse so that, compared 
to individuals without a history of  abuse, men with 
a history of  abuse would have greater risk-taking 
propensity while women with a history of  abuse would 
have less risk-taking propensity. To our knowledge, this 
is the first study to investigate the interacting effects 
between gender and separate forms of  abuse, so there 
were no specific hypotheses about the effects of  each 
type of  abuse (e.g., emotional vs. physical abuse).

Methods

Participants and Procedure
Data was collected from the University of  Illinois at 

Chicago. The sample consisted of  140 adults who were 
enrolled in a larger study on emotional processing in 
families (data not yet published). In line with the aims of  
this larger study, participants were enrolled in the study 
along with one of  their biological siblings. For the pres-
ent study, only one individual from each sibling pair was 
included in order to prevent genetic/psychophysiologi-
cal homogeneity. To prevent biases, one sibling from 
each pair was selected using a random number generator 
to be included in the present study. Participants were 
recruited from the community through advertisements 
targeting a broad range of  psychopathology, including 
past trauma exposure. As part of  the inclusion criteria 
for the larger study, participants were required to be 
between the ages of  18 and 30 and have a full biologi-
cal sibling within this age range willing to participate. 
Individuals were excluded from participating if  they had 
a personal or family history of  psychosis or mania; were 
left-handed; were unable to read/write English; or had a 
history of  head trauma with loss of  consciousness. The 
demographics and clinical characteristics of  the sample 
are presented in Table 1.

All procedures were approved by the Institutional 
Review Board of  the University of  Illinois at Chicago. 

Participants provided written informed consent after 
review of  the study protocol. Participation in the study 
involved completing a structured clinical interview, 
questionnaire battery, and set of  laboratory tasks. For 
the current study, relevant data were collected from 
behavioral tasks (risk-taking propensity), questionnaires 
(demographics, childhood maltreatment), and clinical 
interview (alcohol use). Laboratory tasks and question-
naires were administered in a counterbalanced order. 
As compensation for their participation, participants 
received a cash payment of  $130.

Risk-Taking Propensity
Risk-taking propensity (RTP) was assessed using 

the widely-used Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART)—
Auto Pump, a modified version of  the original BART 
(Lejuez et al., 2002; Pleskac, Wallsten, Wang, & Lejuez, 
2008). The BART models real-world risk-taking 
behaviors by requiring participants to balance potential 
reward versus loss. This assessment has repeatedly been 
shown to have good convergent validity with self-report 
measures of  risk-related constructs and is predictive of  
the real-world risk behaviors of  self-reported substance 
use and gambling (Lejuez et al., 2002; Lejuez et al., 2003). 
During the task, participants were presented with a 
total of  30 computerized balloons. As each individual 
balloon appeared the participant was instructed to 
type in the number of  desired “pumps” (between 
1 and 128) required to inflate the balloon. For each 
pump, participants earned one cent. Each balloon had 
a randomized amount of  “pumps” it would withstand 
before it would burst. Thus, if  the participant typed in 
a number of  pumps exceeding that balloon’s limit, the 
balloon on the screen would consequently pop and the 
participant would be left without any money earned for 
that specific balloon. Hence, the higher the number of  
pumps entered on the screen, the greater the amount of  
potential earnings one would receive, which also related 
to the greater risk of  earning no money. The explosion 
point of  the previous balloon was displayed in the left 
hand corner of  the screen on each trial. Participants 
were told that the amount of  their prize money was 
dependent on the amount of  money they accumulated 
during the task. All participants received a $7 payment 
for this task and were debriefed after completion of  
the full study.



8

HUGGINS, GORKA, SHANKMAN

Childhood Maltreatment
Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the 

28-item retrospective self-report form: Childhood 
Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) 
(Bernstein et al., 2003). The CTQ-SF consists of  five 
clinical scales designed to capture different forms of  
childhood trauma: physical abuse, physical neglect, 
emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse. 
Items are rated on a 5-point scale with responses ranging 
from “Never True” to “Very Often True.” The CTQ-SF 
is widely used and has demonstrated good reliability and 
validity (Bernstein et al., 2003).

The CTQ-SF is designed to produce both dimen-
sional and categorical assessments of  maltreatment. 
Although the recruitment approach for the current 
sample partially targeted individuals with a history of  
trauma, the total and subscale scores were significantly 
skewed reflecting a non-normal distribution. Therefore, 
to maximize statistical power, dichotomized CTQ-SF 
variables were created using published cut-off  scores for 
each subscale (i.e., 8 for physical abuse, 8 for physical 
neglect, 9 for emotional abuse, and 10 for emotional 
neglect; Bernstein & Fink, 1998). Of  note, as the current 
sample was not specifically recruited for a history of  
sexual abuse, the prevalence of  sexual abuse in the 
current sample was low (15%), consistent with epidemi-
ological studies (Finkelhor, Shattuck, Turner, & Hamby, 
2014; Putnam, 2003); as such, this subscale was excluded 
from the current analyses.

Alcohol Use
In order to validate the BART in the current sample, 

information about current frequency of  alcohol use was 
collected as a measure of  real-world risk-taking. Alcohol 
use was assessed during a structured clinical interview 
during which participants were asked to report their 
average number of  standard alcoholic drinks consumed 
per week (over the past six months) and number of  
binge episodes within the past 30 days. Alcohol use 
was probed using a Time-Line Follow-Back technique 
(Sobell & Sobell, 1992), with participants using a calen-
dar to indicate days on which they consumed alcohol 
and the number of  standard drinks on each occasion. 
Binge episodes were defined as consuming, in one 
sitting, ≥5 drinks for males or ≥4 drinks for females 
(Wechsler & Nelson, 2001).

Data Analysis Plan
Total number of  entered pumps across all 

30 balloons on the BART was used as an indicator of  
risk-taking propensity which is consistent with prior 
studies (e.g., Daughters et al., 2013). A series of  hier-
archical linear regression analyses were conducted in 
order to test whether gender moderates the associa-
tion between childhood abuse and risk-taking propensity. 
Each individual CTQ-SF scale was treated as a sepa-
rate independent variable (i.e., physical abuse, physical 
neglect, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect) and 
separate models were run for each predictor. For all 
models, age was entered as a covariate in Step 1. Gender 
and the CTQ-SF score were entered in Step 2, and the 
gender x CTQ-SF interaction term was entered in 
Step 3. Significant two-way interactions were followed-
up by using a simple slopes approach for dichotomous 
variables (Aiken & West, 1991; Holmbeck, 2002).

Results

Demographic and Clinical Comparisons
Results from demographic and clinical compari-

sons are presented in Table 1. Of  note, males and 
females did not differ on any demographic variable; 
however, a significantly greater percentage of  females 
reported emotional and sexual abuse than males. There 
were no differences for other forms of  maltreatment. 
Correlations among variables of  interest are presented 
in Table 2. Notably, BART performance (i.e., total 
pumps) was significantly correlated with real-world 
risk behaviors including number of  alcohol binges in 
the past 30 days (r = .22, p = 0.01) and average number 
of  drinks per week over the past six months (r = .19, 
p = 0.02).

Physical Abuse and Neglect
Results of  the regression analyses are reported in 

Table 3. For the physical abuse model, step 1 was not 
significant (F(1, 138) = .64, R2 = .00, p = .43) and there 
was no main effect of  age (β = .07, t = .80, p = .43). 
Step 2 was significant (F(3.136) = 6.25, R2 = .10, p = .01). 
There were main effects of  gender (β = -0.27, t = -3.41, 
p = .001) and physical abuse (β = -.19, t = -2.37, p = .02) 
such that male gender was associated with greater risk-
taking propensity and a history of  physical abuse was 
associated with lesser risk-taking propensity. These main 



9

GENDER, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, AND RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY

Table 1
Participant demographics and clinical characteristics

Means (SD) or Percentages

Variable Males  
(n = 54)

Females  
(n = 86)

Total Sample
(n = 140)

Age (years) 22.4 (3.2)a 22.7 (3.1)a 22.5 (3.2)
Ethnicity

Caucasian 38.9%a 44.2%a 42.1%
African American 13.0%a 12.8%a 12.9%
Hispanic 25.9%a 27.9%a 27.1%
Asian American 14.8%a 8.1%a 10.7%
Other 7.4%a 7.0%a 7.2%

BART Total Pumps 1860.9 (311.1)a 1623.4 (445.5)b 1715.0 (414.4)
Alcohol Binges 1.35 (2.49)a .90 (1.62)b 1.07 (2.00)
Drinks Per Week 4.35 (6.09)a 3.08 (4.18)a 3.56 (5.01)
CTQ Total Score 35.1 (8.5)a 37.5 (13.0)a 36.54 (11.49)
CTQ Physical Abuse 27.8%a 32.6%a 30.7%
CTQ Physical Neglect 31.5%a 25.6%a 27.9%
CTQ Emotional Abuse 22.2%a 38.4%b 32.1%
CTQ Emotional Neglect 33.3%a 34.9%a 34.3%
CTQ Sexual Abuse 7.4%a 19.8%b 15.0%
Note. Means or percentages with different subscripts across rows were significantly different in pairwise comparisons (p < .05, chi-square 
test for categorical variables and Tukey’s honestly significant difference test for continuous variables).

Table 2
Correlations between demographics, risk-taking propensity, alcohol use, and CTQ scores

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Sex    -
2. Age .046    -
3. BART Total Pumps -.280** .068    -
4. Alcohol Binges -.111 .043 .224**    -
5. Drinks per week -.119 .089 .138 .731**    -
6. CTQ Total .102 .076 -.227** -.028 -.065    -
7/ CTQ Physical Abuse .078 .067 -.251** -.044 -.007 .663**    -
8. CTQ Physical Neglect -.067 .064 -.123 -.026 -.056 .703** .421**    -
9. CTQ Emotional Abuse .145 .040 -.143 -.078 -.101 .796** .521** .415**    -

10. CTQ Emotional Neglect -.023 .007 -.059 .028 -.007 .742** .273** .536** .535**    -
11. CTQ Sexual Abuse .189* .094 -.231** .012 .008 .528** .232** .170* .221** .115

*p < .05; **p < .01



10

HUGGINS, GORKA, SHANKMAN

effects were qualified by a significant physical abuse 
by gender interaction (β = -.68, t = -2.38, p = .02) in 
step 3 (F(4,135) = 6.26, R2 = .13, p < .001). For males, a 
history of  physical abuse was not associated with risk-
taking propensity (β = .06, t = .44, p = .66); however, 
for females, a history of  physical abuse was associated 
with decreased risk-taking propensity (β = -.33, t = -3.35, 
p = 0.001; Figure 1A).

Similar results were found for physical neglect. 
Step 1 of  the model was not significant (F(1,138) = .64, 
R2= .00, p = .43) and there was no effect of  age (β = .07, 
t = .80, p = .43). Step 2 was significant (F(3, 136) = 6.28, 
R2 = .10, p = .001). There were significant main effects 
of  gender (β = -.30, t = -3.68, p < .001) and physical 
neglect (β = -.19, t = -2.39, p = .02), in that male gender 
was associated with greater risk-taking propensity, and 
a history of  physical neglect was associated with less 
risk-taking propensity in adulthood. Again, in step 3 
(F(4, 135) = 5.92, R2 = .12, p < .001) these main effects 
were qualified by a significant physical trauma by gender 
interaction (β = -.56. t = -2.09, p = .04). For males, there 
was no association between physical neglect and risk-
taking propensity (β = .01, t = .04, p = .97), but for 
females, physical neglect was associated with decreased 
risk-taking propensity (β = -.33, t = -3.19, p = 0.002; 
Figure 1B).

Emotional Abuse and Neglect
For the emotional abuse model, step 1 was not 

significant (F(1, 138) = .64, R2 = .00, p = .43) and there 
was no main effect of  age (β = .07, t = .80, p = .43). 
Step 2 of  the model was significant (F(3, 136) = 5.33, 
R2 = .08, p = .002) and there was the expected main 
effect of  gender, such that males exhibited higher 
risk-taking propensity than females (β = -.26, t = -3.15, 
p = .002). There was no main effect of  emotional abuse 
(β = .-.14, t = -1.76, p = .08). Step 3 was significant (F(4, 
135) = 4.01, R2 = .08, p = .004); however, there was not 
a significant emotional abuse by gender interaction 
(β = -.12, t = -.38, p = .71).

For the emotional neglect model, step 1 was not 
significant (F(1, 138) = .64, R2 = .00, p = .43) and there 
was no main effect of  age (β = .07, t = .80, p = .43). In 
step 2 (F(3, 136) = 4.67, R2 = .09, p = .004), there was 
a main effect of  gender, with male gender being asso-
ciated with greater risk-taking propensity (β = -.28, 
t = -3.46, p = .001). There was no significant main effect 

of  emotional neglect (β = -.07, t = -1.13, p = .26). Step 3 
was also significant (F(4, 35) = 3.60, R2 = .07, p = .01), 
but there was no emotional neglect by gender interac-
tion (β = .20, t = .67, p = .51).

Discussion

Previous research has demonstrated that acute 
stress amplifies gender differences in risk-taking propen-
sity, in that stress increases RTP in men and decreases 
RTP in women (Daughters et al., 2013; Lighthall et al., 
2009). However, the studies examined to date have not 
investigated these stress-induced gender differences in 
response to real-world stressors and whether there are 
prolonged effects of  gender and stress on RTP; thus, 
the aim of  the current study was to assess whether a 
history of  childhood abuse was associated with exag-
gerated gender differences in RTP in adulthood. Results 
indicated that gender did indeed moderate the asso-
ciation between childhood abuse and adult RTP, but 
that this effect differed depending on the type of  abuse. 
Specifically, for women, a history of  childhood physical 
abuse or physical neglect was associated with signifi-
cantly reduced RTP, whereas for men there was no 
association between physical abuse or physical neglect 
and RTP. Furthermore, the effects were specific to 
physical abuse and neglect as there was no interacting 
effect between gender and childhood emotional abuse 
or neglect on adult RTP. Therefore, like the acute stress 
literature, the current findings suggest that there are 
gender differences in the association between child-
hood physical maltreatment and RTP. However, unlike 
the acute stress literature, gender did not impact the 
association between childhood emotional maltreatment 
and RTP.

As was previously noted, prior studies have found 
that in response to acute stress, men show increased 
RTP (Daughters et al., 2013; Lighthall et al., 2009). In 
the current study, there was no association between 
childhood emotional or physical abuse and RTP in 
males. This was somewhat unexpected; however, it is 
important to highlight that results indicated that, on 
average, males exhibited greater RTP compared with 
females. This main effect of  gender is consistent with 
the broader RTP literature (Byrnes et al., 1999; Lejuez 
et al., 2002) and suggests that for males, increased RTP 
may be a trait-like phenomena that is less impacted by 



11

GENDER, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, AND RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY

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1



12

HUGGINS, GORKA, SHANKMAN

childhood abuse. Indeed, one twin study has shown 
the heritability (and thus, potential trait-likeness) of  
RTP varies by gender (Anokhin, Golosheykin, Grant, 
& Heath, 2009). Considering the findings of  others 
(i.e., Daughters et al., 2013; Lighthall et al., 2009; Uy & 
Galván, 2017), men may be generally more risk-prone 
and, in response to acute stress, this trait may be ampli-
fied. Thus, although men may have a trait-like proclivity 
for greater risk-taking, the current study suggests that 
stress-associated elevations of  RTP may fade in the 
absence of  the stressor and not have robust long-term 
effects.

However, women reporting childhood physical 
maltreatment exhibited reduced RTP. This finding is 
consistent with existing literature demonstrating that 
women become more conservative and inhibited in 
response to stress (Daughters et al., 2013; Lighthall 
et al., 2009). Importantly, the results of  the current 
study suggest that a pattern of  becoming more risk-
averse under stress may persist after the acute stressor is 
gone. In other words, it appears that previous stressors, 
such as childhood trauma, and not solely acute stressors, 
may reduce RTP in women. Although this relationship 
was only found for women, it is not unsurprising, as 
previous studies have demonstrated that women with 
a history of  childhood abuse are more likely than men 
to have adverse outcomes later in life, such as higher 
rates of  depression and PTSD, in adulthood (MacMillan 
et al., 2001; Tolin & Foa, 2006). Thus, it is possible that 
women are more vulnerable to the long-term effects 
of  childhood trauma and are more likely to experience 
lasting alterations of  risk-taking behaviors.

Although speculative, some have suggested that 
evolutionary differences may explain why women, but 
not men, could be more likely to experience prolonged 
effects after a stressor. Taylor et al. (2000) proposed 
that men and women exhibit different biobehavioral 
responses to stress, arguing that, in response to a threat, 
men are more likely to engage in a fight-or-flight response. 
However, as this type of  response may compromise the 
safety of  self  or offspring, women instead become more 
conservative or inhibited with others, a pattern known 
as “tend-and-befriend.” Specifically, when confronted 
with a threat, many women engage in nurturing (tend) 
and social activities (befriend) aimed to protect the 
self  and offspring and reduce distress. Researchers 
have speculated that, although this need to protect 

and nurture may be protective against imminent threat, 
there are possible negative consequences, including the 
internalization of  negative emotions, such as worry-
ing or ruminating about stressful situations (Craske, 
2003; Hazlett-Stevens, 2005). Indeed, these response 
patterns have been thought to be linked to gender 
differences in externalizing and internalizing psycho-
pathologies, for instance, with men being more likely 
to have alcohol and substance use disorders (Brady & 
Randall, 1999; Seedat et al., 2009) and women more 
likely to have problems with depression and anxiety 
(Lewinsohn, Gotlib, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Allen, 1998; 
Nolen-Hoeksema, 1990). In light of  these findings, this 
pattern may generalize to childhood stress and, impor-
tantly, have a long-lasting impact on risk-taking; thus, 
women exposed to this type of  stress (e.g., childhood 
abuse) become reinforced with this conservative, risk 
averse behavioral pattern.

Interestingly, this finding was only specific for 
physical abuse and neglect, but not emotional abuse 
or neglect. While physical and emotional abuse often 
occur concurrently, they are qualitatively different. Thus, 
it is not surprising to find that they may be associated 
with different outcomes. One possibility for this specific 
impact on risk-taking is that emotional abuse may have 
more internal or cognitive consequences, whereas the 
negative consequences of  physical abuse may mani-
fest more behaviorally. For instance, emotional abuse 
has been uniquely linked to a number of  maladaptive 
cognitions (Wright et al., 2009), such as low self-esteem 
(Briere & Runtz, 1990; Gross & Keller, 1992) and shame 
(Hoglund & Nicholas, 1995), whereas physical abuse has 
been linked to more behavioral consequences, such as 
physical aggression (Teisl & Cicchetti, 2007; Trickett & 
McBride-Chang, 1995).

Moreover, exposure to physical maltreatment may 
have more of  an impact on biological stress response 
systems than emotional abuse. Grant et al. (2011) found 
that adults reporting a history of  childhood physi-
cal abuse, but not emotional abuse, exhibited greater 
reactivity of  the amygdala in response to sad stimuli 
than individuals without a history of  physical abuse. 
The amygdala is a major component in stress and fear 
neurocircuitry, and hyperactive amygdala responding 
is considered a key biological mechanism in the onset 
and maintenance of  anxiety disorders (Shin & Liberzon, 
2010)—a class of  internalizing disorders characterized 



13

GENDER, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, AND RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY

by avoidance and risk-aversion (Lorian & Grisham, 
2010; Maner et al., 2007; Maner & Schmidt, 2006). Thus, 
because physical abuse may alter amygdala functioning, 
especially in a young developing brain, it may have more 
of  a potent impact on future affective and behavioral 
responding (including RTP).

Although the current study significantly adds to 
the growing literature on the etiology of  RTP, there 
are several limitations worth noting. First, although the 
population was sampled to include individuals who have 
experienced traumatic events (e.g., childhood abuse), 
overall the sample had low levels of  abuse requiring 
the use of  categorical rather than continuous indices 
of  childhood trauma. In particular, the current sample 
reported very low levels of  sexual abuse, and thus the 
unique and interactive effects of  sexual abuse and gender 
on RTP were not examined. Future studies are therefore 
critically needed to investigate the relation between this 
specific form of  abuse and the development of  RTP. 
Second, participants were asked to make retrospective 
assessments of  childhood trauma which may have led 
to recall biases in reporting. Third, the current study 
was cross-sectional and cannot adequately test whether 
the childhood trauma preceded onset of  individual 
differences in RTP (or whether group differences in 
RTP were even evident in childhood). Future studies 
should utilize a longitudinal design to test relations 
between gender, stress, and RTP. As such, the current 
findings suggest that gender and a history of  child abuse 
may interact to predict adult RTP, but further work is 
warranted to better characterize this model.

Another critical point is that prior studies have 
found that a history of  childhood abuse is related to 
increased RTP (Bornovalova, Gwadz, Kahler, Aklin, 
& Lejuez, 2008), yet the current study did not find 
evidence of  this positive main effect. Although the 
present findings clearly highlight the important role 
of  gender in determining the direction and strength 
of  effects between childhood abuse and RTP, the lack 
of  main effect may be considered discrepant with 
some prior studies. Interestingly, a study by Sujan and 
colleagues (2014) found that for self-reported measures 
of  real-world risk-taking and impulsivity, young adults 
with a history of  childhood abuse reported greater rates 
of  risk-taking; however, on computerized behavioral 
tasks (including the BART) those with a history 
of  childhood abuse exhibited significantly reduced 

risk-taking and impulsivity—consistent with the 
current effects observed in females. This suggests that 
assessment methods (i.e., self-report versus behavioral 
task) may influence the association between childhood 
maltreatment and RTP, and it is therefore unclear 
whether the current findings would also apply to self-
report measures of  risk-taking.

In sum, the current study found that gender and 
childhood physical abuse and physical neglect interact to 
predict individual differences in risk-taking. Specifically, 
women who reported physical abuse and neglect 
during childhood exhibited significantly less RTP; 
however, there were no associations found between 
childhood abuse and RTP in men. This suggests that 
physical maltreatment during childhood may have a 
profound, long-lasting effect on risk-taking behavior, 
and that women may be particularly vulnerable to these 
prolonged effects. Although prior work has demon-
strated that gender moderates risk-taking propensity in 
acutely stressed individuals (e.g., Lighthall et al., 2009), 
the current study expands this line of  research by 
demonstrating that gender also interacts with chronic, 
distal stress (i.e., childhood abuse) to predict risk-taking 
propensity. As risk aversion has been linked to anxi-
ety (Maner et al., 2007), these findings provide some 
clinical utility. Future studies, particularly longitudinal 
research, may provide insight into whether risk aver-
sion plays a mechanistic role in the development of  
anxious psychopathology in adult women with a history 
of  physical abuse and, subsequently, whether risk-taking 
propensity may be a target for intervention in this popu-
lation. Given the clinical relevance of  these findings, it 
is important for future studies to continue to investi-
gate the ways in which these factors interact to assess 
the development of  maladaptive risk-taking behaviors 
over time.

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