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Abstract
Past research indicates that childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) undermines the quality of adult romantic relationships by fostering negative characteristics in survivors. Two longitudinal studies investigated the hypothesis that decreased compassionate goals toward partners over time explain the association between CEM and declining relationship quality. In Study 1, CEM predicted decreased compassionate goals over time, which in turn predicted decreased relationship quality in individuals in romantic relationships. Study 2 replicated this effect in romantically involved couples and showed that partners’ high compassionate goals attenuated the decline in compassionate goals associated with reported CEM. These results point to the importance of examining how CEM may affect positive relationship processes and the protective roles of partners’ compassionate goals.
Highlights
Childhood adversity undermines well-being in adulthood (Edwards et al, 2003)
Because many romantic relationships break up over time and this is true for people who report Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) (Perry et al, 2007; Maneta et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2019), we explored whether CEM predicts breakups in Study 1, and whether declines in compassionate goals account for this association
We examined the association between CEM and change in compassionate goals from T1 to T2 and whether this association could be explained by social desirability, initial relationship quality, attachment anxiety and avoidance, hostility, and depression
Summary
Abuse and neglect are traumatic forms of childhood adversity, and can include physical, sexual, and emotional maltreatment. Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) is a prevalent yet underinvestigated type of childhood adversity (Scher et al, 2004). CEM refers to abuse and neglect where a child’s basic emotional needs are consistently unmet (Hart and Brassard, 1987). CEM relates to a range of serious cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences in adulthood (Briere and Runtz, 1990; Mullen et al, 1996; Angelakis et al, 2019). People with CEM report more depression (see Nelson et al, 2017, for a review), more suicidal ideation and suicide attempts (see Angelakis et al, 2019, for a review), and they are more likely to suffer from multiple mental disorders in adulthood (Taillieu et al, 2016). Parents who report having experienced CEM tend to be more hostile toward their children, increasing the likelihood of psychologically maltreating their children and creating a cycle of abuse (Bailey et al, 2012)
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