A structural model of mechanisms predicting depressive symptoms in women following childhood psychological maltreatment

A structural model of mechanisms predicting depressive symptoms in women following childhood psychological maltreatment

Coates, A. A., & Messman-Moore, T. L. (2014). A structural model of mechanisms predicting depressive symptoms in women following childhood psychological maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(1), 103-113. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.005

Two underlying mechanisms, 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. PM was assessed as a multi-faceted construct including aspects of psychological abuse (e.g., corrupting) and psychological neglect (e.g., emotional unresponsiveness) that occurred by parents. Female undergraduates (n =771) completed anonymous, retrospective, self-report surveys assessing childhood PM, current depressive symptoms, emotion dysregulation (lack of emotional clarity and regulation strategies), and negative internalized beliefs (mistrust, shame, and defectiveness). Psychological maltreatment was represented as four subtypes of psychological abuse or neglectful behavior: Emotional Non-Responsiveness, Spurning/Terrorizing, Corrupting, and Demanding/Rigid (i.e., controlling behavior). Both emotion dysregulation and negative internalized beliefs significantly mediated the link between childhood PM and depressive symptoms, accounting for approximately 68

emotion dysregulation; childhood psychological maltreatment; depressive symptoms; psychological abuse; child abuse victims; Adolescent; Adult; Attitude to Health; Child Abuse; Child, Preschool; Depression; Emotions; Female; Humans; Internal-External Contro

USA

General population - undergraduate students

Schema domains

Correlational