The roles of shame and poor self-concept in explaining low social connection among adult survivors of childhood emotional maltreatment.

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that experiences of EM lead to shame that impairs the development of social self-concept and, ultimately, one's sense of SC. We collected self-report data from 244 American college students. Using structural equation modeling, we tested shame and social self-concept as sequential mediators of the path from EM to SC. Shame and social self-concept mediated the relationship between EM and SC, bringing this direct path below significance. Social self-concept partially mediated shame and SC. Overall, our model accounted for 77% of the variability in SC. Children subjected to EM by caregivers are likely to experience themselves as deeply flawed (i.e., shame) and have difficulty developing a secure sense of themselves, especially as relational beings. Our results suggest that when shame interferes with the development of a positive social self-concept, survivors of EM are at-risk for low SC. Treatment implications include a focus on healing shame and building social self-concept. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).