Invalidating childhood environment, adult distress, and emotional regulation:A mediational model

BackgroundEffective emotion regulation abilities are essential for engaging in positive, validating parenting practices. Yet, many parents report difficulties with both emotion regulation and positive parenting, and these difficulties may in part be the result of parents’ own childhood experiences of invalidation. Building upon prior literature documenting the intergenerational transmission of invalidation and emotion dysregulation, the present study examined the associations between these constructs and a specific parenting practice – parental apology – that can be conceptualized as a type of validating parenting practice.MethodsUsing a sample of 186 community mothers, we tested direct and indirect relationships via correlational and path analysis between participants’ retrospective reports of parental invalidation during childhood, difficulties with emotion regulation, and two aspects of parental apology – proclivity (i.e., participants’ self-reported propensity to apologize to their child) and effectiveness (i.e., participants’ inclusion of specific apology content when prompted to write a child-directed apology). Parental invalidation, difficulties with emotion regulation, and parental apology proclivity were measured via self-report questionnaires. Apology effectiveness was measured by coding written responses to a hypothetical vignette.ResultsThere was a significant negative bivariate relationship between difficulties with emotion regulation and parental apology proclivity and effectiveness. Parents’ own childhood experiences of invalidation were linked to parental apology indirectly via emotion regulation difficulties.ConclusionsResults suggest that mothers with greater difficulties regulating emotions may be less able to or have a lower proclivity to apologize to their child when appropriate. Thus, parent apology may be an important addition to current calls for parent validation training.

Research has shown that growing up in an environment in which emotions are invalidated (i.e., ignored or responded to negatively) by parents is associated with later difficulties regulating emotions. Meanwhile, dispositional mindfulness has been shown to engender a greater capacity for emotion regulation, through use of adaptive strategies like cognitive reframing and minimizing use of maladaptive strategies like expressive suppression. The current study aimed to explore the role of invalidating childhood environments on use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as emotion regulation skills and to investigate the role of mindfulness in this relationship. Participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (n = 1094, Mage = 58.3% women) and completed self-report measures assessing perceptions of maternal invalidation, mindfulness, and emotion regulation. Results demonstrated that the mindfulness facets of describing, non-judging, and non-reactivity partially mediated the relationship between perception of maternal invalidation and expressive suppression. Awareness and non-reactivity were found to mediate the relationship between perception of maternal invalidation and cognitive reappraisal. Clinical implications are discussed.

While the association between an invalidating childhood environment and borderline personality traits is well-established, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of negative beliefs about emotions and their subdimensions in the relationship between an invalidating childhood environment and borderline personality traits in adulthood. The sample consisted of 420 Turkish adults aged between 18 and 40 years. Participants completed the Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale, the Borderline Personality Traits Questionnaire, and the Beliefs about Emotions Questionnaire through an online survey. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and regression-based path analyses based on Hayes’ bootstrap mediation approach with 5,000 resamples. The results indicated that an invalidating childhood environment was positively associated with both borderline personality traits and negative beliefs about emotions, and that negative beliefs about emotions were also positively associated with borderline personality traits. Mediation analyses demonstrated that overall negative beliefs about emotions (95% CI [.04, .13]), overwhelming/uncontrollable beliefs (95% CI [.07, .19]), shameful/irrational beliefs (95% CI [.03, .12]), and damaging beliefs (95% CI [.01, .08]) each significantly mediated this relationship. Overall, the findings suggest that maladaptive beliefs about emotions constitute a key psychological mechanism through which childhood emotional invalidation may increase vulnerability to borderline personality traits in adulthood.

Invalidating childhood environments have been characterised as those in which caregivers do not validate a child's personal experiences and the communication of emotions is considered inappropriate, being either ignored or punished. The current study assessed the relationships among invalidating childhood environments, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating and difficulties in close relationships in a sample of college students. In this study, 362 non-clinical participants with ages ranging from 17 to 25years (M = 20.02, SD = 1.51) completed self-report measures. Difficulties in close relationships, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating were significantly higher in invalidating families than in validating families. Invalidating childhood environments were associated with higher body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, and both associations were mediated by difficulties in close relationships. Finally, body dissatisfaction mediates the effects of BMI and difficulties in close relationships on eating disorder symptoms. Perceived experiences of invalidation in childhood may be associated with eating disorder symptomatology. In addition, difficulties in close relationships during adulthood possibly contribute to the emergence of eating disorder symptoms. Level V,descriptive study.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to intentional damage to the body without fatal intent. While distal factors such as genetic predisposition, emotional sensitivity, emotional reactivity and invalidating childhood environments may serve as risk factors, NSSI is primarily maintained by alleviation of intense negative emotional states, in the absence of alternative emotion regulation strategies. Currently, no specific NSSI intervention for adolescents exists; however, extant self-harm interventions have demonstrated promising, preliminary findings. Of note, the salient role of emotion regulation in the initiation and maintenance of NSSI suggests this may be a viable treatment target. While empirical evidence supports this in adult samples, replication in large-scale, randomized controlled trials with adolescent samples is required to inform best practice in treating NSSI among adolescents.

Internet addiction (IA) has mostly been investigated with the fear of missing out and difficulties in emotional regulation. The present study examined the link between IA and variables related to problematic social media use (i.e., fear of missing out, social media addiction), together with emotional (dys)regulation and personality traits, providing new insights and an integrated assessment of IA. In total, 397 participants, aged 18–35 years (M = 22.00; SD = 3.83), were administered a set of questionnaires pertaining to IA, problematic social media use, emotional (dys)regulation, and personality traits. Pearson’s correlations showed significant associations between IA and the investigated variables, and the tested mediation model highlighted the crucial role played by emotional (dys)regulation in the fear of missing out and problematic use of social networks. Overall, the findings provide support for a new integrated model for understanding the features, predictors, and risk factors of IA.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential mediating effects of depression and psychache (i.e., extreme mental pain) on the relationship between parental invalidation and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in young adults. A sample of 2474 university students responded to previously validated measures of current NSSI, childhood parental invalidation, depression, and psychache. Using a parallel mediation model, path analysis using structural equation modeling demonstrated full mediation by depression and psychache of the link between parental invalidation and NSSI. Findings suggest that the association between invalidating childhood environments and NSSI has the potential to be mitigated by addressing issues of depression and psychache.

Previous research has suggested that invalidating childhood environments are positively related to the symptoms of eating disorders. However, it is unclear how childhood environments might impact upon the development of eating disorder symptoms. This study examined the relationship between parental invalidation and eating disorder-related attitudes in a nonclinical sample and tested the mediating effect of attitudes towards emotional expression. Two hundred women, with a mean age of 21 years, completed measures of invalidating childhood environments, attitudes towards emotional expression, and eating pathology. Eating concerns were positively associated with recollections of an invalidating parental environment. The belief that the expression of emotions is a sign of weakness fully mediated the relationship between childhood maternal invalidation and adult eating concern. Following replication and extension to a clinical sample, these results suggest that targeting the individual's attitude towards emotional expression might reduce eating attitudes among women who have experienced an invalidating childhood environment.

Invalidating childhood environments in anorexia and bulimia nervosa

Development of a measure to assess invalidating childhood environments in the eating disorders

The current study examined relationships among childhood emotional vulnerability, an invalidating childhood environment, thought suppression, and symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Emotional vulnerability and an invalidating childhood environment are described by Linehan (1993) as important biosocial precursors to the development of BPD. Using a student sample selected to have a wide range of BPD symptoms, we examined whether thought suppression mediates the relationship between these biosocial precursors and symptoms of BPD. Results supported the hypothesis that thought suppression fully mediates the relationship between invalidating environment and BPD symptoms. Mixed support was found for the hypothesis that thought suppression mediates the relationship between emotional vulnerability and BPD symptoms. We also examined whether fear of emotions mediates the relationship between the biosocial precursors and thought suppression. Results supported this hypothesis, and also suggested that fear of emotion contributes independently to mediating the relationship between biosocial precursors and BPD symptoms.

Objective: Eating disorders (EDs) are prevalent in adulthood and often originate in adolescence, influenced by various psychological factors, including childhood experiences. This research investigated how self-compassion, distress tolerance, and impulsivity function as mediators between early experiences of emotional invalidation during childhood and individuals’ eating patterns and attitudes in adulthood.Method: The study involved 1,217 students (86.2% female), recruited through convenience sampling. Participants completed standardized questionnaires assessing eating behaviors, eating attitudes, self-compassion, distress tolerance, and impulsivity. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).Results: Impulsivity and self-compassion significantly mediated the relationship between childhood invalidation and both eating behavior (β = 0.161, P < 0.05) and eating attitude (β = 0.077, P < 0.01). Distress tolerance did not serve as a significant mediator in the model. Invalidating childhood environment was directly related to impulsivity (β = 0.303, P < 0.001) and self-compassion (β = -0.350, P < 0.001). Self-compassion and impulsivity were significant predictors of eating behavior and attitudes.Conclusion: Childhood experiences of invalidation contribute to maladaptive eating behaviors and attitudes through the mediating roles of impulsivity and self-compassion. Notably, impulsivity had a stronger indirect effect on both outcomes compared to self-compassion. The results indicate that fostering self-compassion and managing impulsive tendencies may serve as important focal points for interventions designed to prevent or treat eating disorders.

The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the invalidating childhood environment scale (ICES) in a non-clinical and clinical sample of eating disorder (ED) patients. This study also investigated the between-sample differences regarding invalidating parental behaviors and family styles and explored the associations between invalidating childhood environments and eating pathology. A sample of 410 high school and college students and 101 patients with a diagnosis of ED completed self-report measures. Principal component analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the ICES. The internal consistency and the between-sample differences and associations between invalidating childhood environments and eating pathology were also tested. Principal component analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a two-factor solution for each parent. The ICES demonstrated high internal consistency and was able to differentiate between non-clinical and clinical samples. The perception of parental invalidation was higher in ED patients, and the clinical sample presented higher scores in the chaotic and perfect family styles and lower scores in the validating family style, in comparison with the non-clinical sample. Both maternal invalidation and invalidating styles were significantly associated with a higher ED symptomatology. The Portuguese version of the ICES revealed adequate psychometric properties. Considering the relationship between invalidation in family and eating pathology, the ICES may be useful in clinical practice, especially among ED patients. Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Maternal emotion regulation abilities affect adolescent depressive symptoms by mediating their emotion regulation ability: An ERP study

In an effort to further understand the impact of domestic violence (DV) on infant and toddlers' development, this research utilized data from the second cohort of National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II) to examine the relationship between maternal DV and infant and toddlers' emotional regulation, and determine whether mothers' receipt of DV services mediated this relationship. The sample was limited to children aged 0 to 3 years and included (a) infants less than 1 year old (n = 603), (b) infants 1 to less than 2 years old (n = 310), and (c) toddlers 2 to 3 years old (n = 268). Infant/toddlers' emotional regulation was measured using mothers' response on the How My Infant/Toddler/Child Usually Acts questionnaire. In addition, data were collected to assess whether (a) active DV was present during the time of the Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation and (b) mothers received DV services during the past year. Study research questions were examined using a series of multiple regression analyses. Mediation was tested based on Baron and Kenny's recommended model for establishing mediation. The mediational model was not found to be significant; however, a positive relationship existed between maternal DV and emotional regulation among infants aged less than 1 year old (β = 1.61, p = .039). There were no statistically significant relationships between DV and emotional regulation in the other age groups. These findings highlight the need to provide CPS-involved families victimized by DV with services that focus on preventing poor infant emotional regulation.