Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood experiences of emotional neglect, negative affectivity, and adult psychiatric symptoms. Two hundred fifty-two participants aged between 18 and 65 years old completed questionnaires on parental bonding, negative feelings, and current psychiatric symptoms. Correlational analyses showed that childhood emotional neglect, negative affectivity, and psychiatric symptoms were significantly and positively associated. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that female gender, younger age, and negative affectivity predicted the severity of psychiatric symptoms. A mediation analysis showed that scores on negative affectivity fully mediated the relationship between emotional neglect scores and psychiatric symptom scores. The study findings suggest one possible pathway for adult psychopathology. This has its early roots in childhood experiences of emotional neglect, and its actual triggers in negative feelings that are difficult to regulate for people who were emotionally neglected. Educational, clinical, and social implications of this developmental pathway are discussed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p259
Highlights
The relationship between child abuse and psychopathology is well established
The present study examined the relationships between childhood experiences of emotional neglect, negative affectivity, and current psychiatric symptoms in a sample of community adults
The findings of this study confirmed our initial hypotheses that the experiences of childhood emotional neglect would predict the severity of current psychiatric symptoms, and that the levels of negative affectivity would mediate this relationship
Summary
The relationship between child abuse and psychopathology is well established. Several studies have shown that child abuse is linked with a number of psychiatric disorders in adulthood, including depressive disorders (Bifulco & Moran, 1998), anxiety disorders (Schimmenti & Bifulco, 2015), trauma-related disorders (Dorahy, Middleton, Seager, McGurrin, Williams, & Chambers, 2014), eating disorders (Racine & Wildes, 2015), dissociative disorders (Webermann, Brand, & Chasson, 2014), somatic symptom disorders (Afari et al, 2014), addictive disorders (Herrenkohl, Hong, Klika, Herrenkohl, & Russo, 2013), and personality disorders (Schimmenti, Di Carlo, Passanisi, & Caretti, 2014), among others. In most cases these children develop mistrust toward other people, constraints on closeness, fear of abandonment, fear or rejection, and other negative interpersonal attitudes as a consequence of emotional neglect This can only limit their possibility to receive support in, and from, relationships (Bifulco & Thomas, 2012). The negative feelings related to distressful or otherwise disturbing experiences could be too difficult to tolerate for individuals who were emotionally neglected during their childhood (Schimmenti & Caretti, 2014) They may have only limited self-regulation abilities, and they might feel that other people will be unable or unwilling to soothe them and to help them. We predicted that the severity of childhood emotional neglect would predict the severity of psychiatric symptoms, and that negative affectivity would mediate the relationship between emotional neglect and psychiatric symptoms
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