NCJ Number
245306
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2014 Pages: 103-113
Date Published
January 2014
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Emotion "dysregulation" and negative internalized beliefs were examined as potential mediators of the association between childhood psychological maltreatment (PM) and depression in emerging adult women.
Abstract
The study found that both emotion dysregulation and negative internalized beliefs significantly mediated the link between childhood PM and depressive symptoms, accounting for approximately 68 percent of the variance in symptomatology. The development of a child's ability to understand and manage his/her emotions relies on caregiver support and responsiveness to the child's emotions. Children learn through their caregiver's acknowledging, labeling, and mirroring of emotions, and they also learn strategies for accepting their emotional experience through the caregiver's validation and responsiveness. Psychological or emotional abuse thwarts the development of the management of emotions and can also cause adverse internalized beliefs about self-worth. This was confirmed in this study of 771 female undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25. Psychological maltreatment was assessed with the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory. Negative internalized beliefs were assessed with the Young Schema Questionnaire - Short Form. Emotional dysregulation was assessed with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; and depressive symptoms were assessed with the Trauma Symptom Inventory. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 55 references