Childhood Emotional Abuse Research Articles

Associations of childhood maltreatment with binge eating and binge drinking in emerging adult women

BackgroundBinge drinking and binge eating are prevalent, frequently co-occurring, high-risk behaviors among emerging adult women, each with physical and psychological consequences. The mechanisms driving their co-occurrence are not well understood, though a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may increase the risk for both binge behaviors. ObjectiveTo assess the association between ACE subtypes and individual and co-occurring binge drinking and eating in emerging adult women. Participants and SettingA diverse sample of women participating in the population-based study EAT 2018: Eating and Activity over Time (N = 788; aged 18–30; 19% Asian, 22% Black, 19% Latino, and 36% White). MethodsMultinomial logistic regression estimated associations among ACE subtypes (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, household dysfunction), and binge drinking, binge eating, and their co-occurrence. Results are reported as predicted probabilities (PP) of each outcome. ResultsOver half of the sample (62%) reported at least one ACE. In models mutually adjusted for other ACEs, physical and emotional abuse showed the strongest associations with binge behaviors. Experiences of physical abuse had the strongest association with a ten-percentage point higher predicted probability of binge drinking (PP = 37%, 95% [CI 27–47%]) and seven-percentage point higher PP of co-occurring binge eating and drinking (PP = 12%, 95% CI [5–19%]). Emotional abuse had the strongest association with an 11-percentage point higher PP binge eating only (PP = 20%, 95% CI [11–29%]). ConclusionsThis study found childhood physical and emotional abuse to be particularly relevant risk factors for binge drinking, binge eating, and their co-occurrence among emerging adult women.

Childhood trauma and its influence on the clinical features of bipolar disorder

BackgroundChildhood trauma is an environmental risk factor for bipolar disorder (BD), But its influence on the clinical features of BD has not been examined sufficiently. ObjectiveWe compared the childhood trauma between patients with BD and healthy controls (HCs) and determined how childhood trauma impacts clinical features, such as severity, mood episodes, and disease duration. Participants and settingThe study population comprised patients with BD (in a state of euthymia or depression, n = 90) and HCs (n = 94). MethodsThe Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders was used to diagnose BD and ascertain its clinical features. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to assess childhood trauma. ResultsThe total CTQ score and scores for the CTQ subscales emotional abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect, significantly differed between the BD and HC groups. Emotional abuse was correlated with higher Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) score and more frequent mood episodes; emotional neglect was correlated with higher HARS score, longer disease duration, and more mood episodes; and total CTQ score was positively correlated with HARS score, disease duration, and mood episodes. Regression analysis showed that emotional neglect significantly predicted HARS score, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score, and disease duration in the BD group (P < 0.05). ConclusionsPatients with BD have more serious childhood trauma. General childhood trauma, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect negatively affect the clinical features of BD.

Alexithymia and sensory processing sensitivity account for unique variance in the prediction of emotional contagion and empathy.

Empathy-the ability to identify and share another person's emotional state-is an important socio-emotional process arising, in part, from emotional contagion. In the current study, we assessed unique variance in emotional contagion and other empathy-related constructs accounted for by two personality traits, alexithymia and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), when controlling for childhood emotional abuse and current depressed mood. A sample of 305 adults (M age = 20.1 years) watched brief film clips chosen to induce various emotional states. After each film, the participants rated how strongly they experienced each of nine different emotions. They then completed self-report measures of alexithymia, SPS, empathy-related constructs, childhood emotional abuse, and current mood. Those scoring high (vs. low) on SPS reported stronger primary emotions and a larger range of emotions when watching the films and were more apt to believe that their emotions matched those of the individuals featured in the films. They also scored higher on both self-oriented processes (such as the tendency to feel personal distress in tense situations) and other-oriented processes (such as perspective taking and empathic concern) related to empathy. Individuals scoring high (vs. low) on alexithymia reported feeling a larger range of emotions while watching the films but scored lower on other-oriented processes related to empathy. After controlling for SPS and alexithymia, current depressed mood predicted experiencing less varied reactions to mixed valence films that elicited strong feelings of embarrassment/humiliation, and less amusement when watching positive films. Childhood emotional abuse did not emerge as a predictor of emotional contagion or empathy. We propose that the strong and nuanced feelings elicited in those scoring high on SPS by observing others support their personal view that they are highly empathic. In contrast, by failing to closely examine their own mixed reactions to others, individuals with alexithymia may find it difficult to connect with, understand, and respond to others' feelings.

The interaction of the oxytocin receptor gene and child abuse subtypes on social cognition in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder type I.

Most studies on cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder have neglected the role of early stress, despite the high frequency of childhood maltreatment in this clinical group. The aim of this study was to establish a connection between a history of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in childhood and social cognition (SC) in patients with bipolar disorder type I (BD-I) in euthymia, and to test a possible moderating effect of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs53576 in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). One hundred and one participants were included in this study. History of child abuse was evaluated using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form. Cognitive functioning was appraised using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (social cognition). The interaction effect between the independent variables OXTR rs53576 (AA/AG and GG) and the absence or presence of any one type of child maltreatment or a combination of types was analyzed using a generalized linear model regression. BD-I patients who had been victims of physical and emotional abuse in childhood and were carriers of the GG genotype at OXTR rs53576 displayed greater SC alterations, specifically in emotion recognition. This gene-environment interaction finding suggests a differential susceptibility model of a genetic variants that can be plausibly associated with SC functioning and might help to identify at-risk clinical subgroups within a diagnostic category. Future research aimed at testing the interlevel impact of early stress constitutes an ethical-clinical duty given the high rates of childhood maltreatment reported in BD-I patients.

214 Relationships between Childhood Trauma Exposure, Mental Health, and Black-Identity in Black Pregnant Persons

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Racial identity, one’s perception of that identity, and their perception of how others view their racial identity influences mental health. We aimed to assess the relationship between childhood trauma exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and postpartum depression symptoms with individual Black identity in adulthood. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We examined whether racial identity, as measured by the regard subsection of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI), was impacted by childhood trauma exposure and related to PTSD and depressive symptoms in a sample of pregnant persons (N= 215, Mage=27.5, SDage=5.3) who identified within the Black diaspora, seeking prenatal care at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, GA. The regard subsection of the MIBI determines extent to which individuals feel positively about membership within the Black group (private regard) and the extent to which they think others feel positively about the Black group (public regard). We assessed childhood trauma using Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and depression and PTSD symptoms with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, respectively. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Public regard (pubR) and private regard (privR) were significantly negatively correlated with childhood emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and overall childhood trauma exposure (all p’s.05). PrivR was significantly negatively correlated with both postpartum depression and PTSD symptoms (p DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Ethnic-racial identity formation is a critical aspect of our psychological well-being, beginning in childhood and continuing across one’s lifespan. Our findings suggest that childhood trauma impacts racial identity in persons of the Black diaspora, which may contribute to negative mental health outcomes, including PTSD and depression.

From childhood emotional maltreatment to disordered eating: A path analysis.

From childhood emotional maltreatment to disordered eating: A path analysis.

Sleep problems mediate the influence of childhood emotional maltreatment on adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: The moderating effect of rumination

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a highly serious public health problem among adolescents in China, and childhood emotional maltreatment has been found to be a risk factor for NSSI. ObjectiveLittle is known about the longitudinal association between childhood emotional maltreatment and NSSI as well as its underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms. Thus, we hypothesized whether sleep problems mediated the association between childhood emotional maltreatment and NSSI, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by rumination. Participants and settingA total of 1987 Chinese adolescents (56.1 % males; ages 10 to 14, M = 12.32, SD = 0.53) completed self-report questionnaires regarding childhood emotional maltreatment, sleep problems, rumination non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in three waves. MethodsStructural equation model was used to test a moderated mediation model, with gender, age and socioeconomic status and baseline measures as covariates. ResultsChildhood emotional maltreatment was significantly associated with NSSI, and this association was mediated by sleep problems. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that rumination intensified the relation between childhood emotional maltreatment and sleep problems as well as the relation between sleep problems and NSSI. ConclusionsFindings of this study demonstrate a relationship among childhood emotional maltreatment, sleep problems, rumination and NSSI. Interventions that target sleep problems and rumination may be beneficial for reducing NSSI for at-risk adolescents.

Child's Emotional Abuse

Çocuk istismarı, çocuğun sağlığını ve gelişimini olumsuz yönde etkileyen, bir yetişkin tarafından uygulanan, kasıtlı veya kasıtlı olmayan davranışlar olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Çocuk istismarı karmaşık nedenleri ve ciddi sonuçlarıyla birlikte çocuk sağlığını önemli derecede etkileyen bir halk sağlığı sorunudur. Duygusal istismar ise çocuğun ihtiyacı olan sevgi ve ilgiden mahrum bırakılmasına neden olabilecek tüm eylemler olarak tanımlanan bir istismar türüdür. Bu istismar türünün genellikle aile içinde yaşanması ve olumsuz sonuçlarının hemen ortaya çıkmaması gibi nedenlerden dolayı duygusal istismar fark edilmesi zor bir istismar türüdür. Bu zorluk yaşanan travmanın derinleşmesine ve yarattığı psikolojik hasarın etkisinin uzun sürmesine neden olmaktadır. Duygusal istismarın çocuk üzerinde fiziksel, psikolojik ve gelişimsel olmak üzere birçok farklı olumsuz etkileri bulunmaktadır. Bu etkilerin en aza indirilmesi için öğretmenler, çocuk doktorları, hemşireler, psikologlar, çocuk gelişim uzmanları ve sosyal hizmet uzmanları gibi meslek çalışanlarının disiplinler arası çalışmalar yürütmesi gerekmektedir. Çünkü her yönüyle sağlıklı bireylerin yetişebilmesi ve sağlıklı bir toplumun inşası için duygusal istismarın önlenmesi gerekmektedir.

Childhood emotional abuse and adult mental health at the intersection of social relationship and education.

Previous research has established that childhood emotional abuse has long-term, negative consequences for adult mental health. Yet, less is known about the ways that social relationship and education intersect to shape the link between childhood emotional abuse and mental health in adulthood. The current study aims to examine whether perceived quality of social relationships moderates the association between childhood emotional abuse and adult mental health. Moreover, it assesses how the moderating effect of perceived quality of social relationship differs across levels of education. The current study analyzes data from the 2012 Korean General Social Survey, a nationally representative sampling of Korean adults. It uses OLS regression models. Childhood emotional abuse is positively associated with depression and psychological distress in adulthood. However, perceived quality of social relationships mitigates the positive association of childhood emotional abuse with depression and psychological distress. Further, this buffering effect of perceived quality of social relationships operates only for individuals with less than or equal to a high school education, but not for individuals with college education or more. The results lend support to the resource substitution thesis, suggesting that positive perceptions of social relationship act as a protective factor against childhood emotional abuse for individuals with lower levels of education.

Study of Childhood Abuse and Anxiety: An Application of Logistic Regression

Introduction: Disorders can often lead to physical illness and suffering along with associated functional disability which hampers the overall well-being of a person. Consequently, it can lead to loss of productivity at the workplace, absenteeism, and social isolation which eventually affects the individual and the society. Researchers have found a crucial association between childhood traumatic experiences with developing anxiety or panic disorder.&#x0D; Methods: The purpose of this study is to do a logistic regression on Add health survey data to examine whether a history of childhood abuse tends to lead to a diagnosis of anxiety or panic disorder in later life. Additionally, medical conditions such as ADHD, PTSD or socio-economic conditions, and addiction were also investigated for their possible contribution to developing anxiety or panic disorder.&#x0D; Results: 49.4 % of respondents reported having faced either physical, emotional, or sexual abuse before the age of 18. Among the total respondents, 12.5 % reported having been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and among these individuals, 25.9 % reported having experienced physical abuse, 64.6 % faced emotional abuse, and 10.3 % said they faced sexual abuse earlier in their life. Results from logistic regression indicated gender (OR=2.069; 95% CI 1.627-2.7), race (OR=0.513; 95% CI 1.442-2.634), PTSD (OR=2.087; 95% CI 1.811-4.35), depression (OR 9.857; 95% CI 7.752-12.535) had a significant effect on developing anxiety. Additionally, an individual who experienced any kind of abuse in their childhood is 0.7 times (95% CI 0.527-0.841) more likely to develop the panic disorder later in their life. Results from the unadjusted logistic regression model indicated that individuals who reported a history of childhood abuse have 1.799 times (95% CI 1.473-2.197) higher odds of being diagnosed with anxiety disorder. Interestingly, women have higher odds (OR= 2.039; 95% CI 1.624-2.560) of having anxiety disorder than men if they were a victim of childhood abuse. Respondents who reported to have faced at least one type of abuse have approximately 1.886 (95% CI 1.512-2.354) times’ greater odds of having anxiety than those who didn’t. Consecutively, experiencing the two types of abuse increased the odds to 2.502 (95% CI 1.930-3.244) finally undergoing all three types of abuse increased the odds by more than double in comparison to those who faced a single kind.&#x0D; Conclusion: Childhood emotional abuse was found to be a more significant contributor to anxiety or panic disorder than other types of abuse. Any kind of childhood abuse experience seemed to have a greater effect on the female portion of the respondents in comparison to the males. Hence, to treat anxiety and panic disorders, childhood maltreatment and other mental illnesses like PTSD and depression should be considered by healthcare professionals to ensure optimal care. Furthermore, interventions targeting those issues need to be developed.

Prevalence and correlates of child maltreatment among mothers in the Kurdistan province, Western Iran.

Parental child maltreatment is a serious public health issue worldwide. As mothers take on a significant proportion of parenting duties in two-parent families, knowledge of maternal risk factors for child maltreatment is essential. In this cross-sectional study, 135 mothers with their last child below 18 years old in Kurdistan province were enrolled. A validated Persian version of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool-Parent version, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory were administered. The prevalence of severe and moderate physical punishment was 78.5% and 71.9%, respectively. Psychological punishment was reported by 99.3% of respondents, and 48.9% reported neglect. A relationship was found between child physical and emotional abuse and low maternal education (P < 0.01), domestic violence (P = 0.02), maternal exposure to maltreatment during childhood (P = 0.03), maternal depression (p < 0.01), and maternal anxiety (P < 0.01). A relationship was found between neglect and residence in rural areas (P < 0.01), domestic violence, and low maternal education (P = 0.02). Maternal child maltreatment in Iran is increased in mothers with psychological disorders and those with certain demographic characteristics. Clinicians should be alert to these potential risk factors.

Inflammatory burden of adolescents with childhood maltreatment: results from baseline data of a school cohort.

Increasing studies have investigated inflammatory burden of adults with childhood adversity, but less is known about how childhood maltreatment affects the inflammation level of adolescents. Baseline data of a school cohort of physical and mental health status and life experience survey on primary and secondary school students in Anhui Province, China was used. Childhood maltreatment of children and adolescents was assessed by Chinese version of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF). Urine samples were collected to assess levels of soluble urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor (suPAR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between childhood maltreatment exposure and risk of high inflammation burden. A total of 844 students were included with mean age 11.41 ± 1.57years old. Adolescents with emotional abuse were significantly more likely to have high level of IL-6 (OR = 3.59, 95% CI 1.16-11.14). In addition, adolescents with emotional abuse were more likely to show high IL-6 and high suPAR combination (OR = 33.41, 95% CI 1.69-659.22), and high IL-6 and low CRP combination (OR = 4.34, 95% CI 1.29-14.55). Subgroup analyses showed that emotional abuse was associated with high IL-6 burden among boys or adolescents with depression. Childhood emotional abuse was positively associated with higher burden of IL-6. Early detection and prevention of emotional abuse for children and adolescents, especially for boys or adolescents with depression status, may be helpful for preventing elevated inflammatory burden and related health problems.

Domestic Violence; A Case Report

Domestic violence is any act against a person, especially a woman, which results in physical, sexual, psychological misery or suffering, and/or neglect of the household. Violence against children is a series of acts of guardians or omissions by parents or other caregivers in the form of acts of physical, sexual, emotional abuse, or neglect of children so that they can harm or provide dangerous threats to children. The victim came conscious, the victim claimed to have been beaten by his own father on the head, face, body, arms, buttocks, and legs, from the victims confession the right arm felt difficult to move. From the examination results, a boy aged 13 years, found a lump on the back of the head, a lump under the right eye, a lump on the left cheek, bruises on the upper lip and a torn wound on the lower lip caused by a blunt object.

Childhood emotional but not physical or sexual maltreatment predicts prosocial behavior in late adolescence: A daily diary study

BackgroundChildhood maltreatment (CM), including physical, emotional, and sexual maltreatment, is detrimental to adolescents' psychological and behavioral outcomes. However, most studies on the relationship between CM and prosocial behavior focused on the overall experience of CM. Since different forms of CM exert various influences on adolescents, it is essential to find out which form of CM has the strongest link with prosocial behavior and the underlying mechanism behind it to fully understand this relationship and design a specific intervention for promoting prosocial behavior. ObjectiveGuided by internal working model theory and hopelessness theory, this study aimed to investigate the connections of multiple forms of CM with prosocial behavior, and explore the mediating mechanism of gratitude from the perspective of the broaden-and-build theory through a 14-day daily diary study. ParticipantsA total of 240 Chinese late adolescents (217 females; Mage = 19.02, SDage = 1.83) from a college volunteered for this study and completed questionnaires regarding CM, gratitude, and prosocial behavior. MethodsA multilevel regression analysis was conducted to investigate which form of CM was correlated to prosocial behavior, and a multilevel mediation analysis was applied to examine the underlying mechanism (i.e., gratitude) behind this relationship. ResultsThe results of the multilevel regression analysis showed that it was childhood emotional maltreatment, but not physical or sexual maltreatment that negatively predicted prosocial behavior. The results of the multilevel mediation analysis indicated that gratitude mediated the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment and prosocial behavior. ConclusionsFindings from the present study highlight the predictive effect of childhood emotional maltreatment on late adolescents' prosocial behavior and the mediating role of gratitude in this link.

Ethnicity, creative identity, creative process, and adversity in college and community samples

This study (N = 524) examined ethnicity, creative identity, adversity, and creative processing. In this cross-sectional Institutional Review Board approved college and community study, five self-report measures were completed: a biographical screener, Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire, Experience of Creativity Questionnaire, Short Scale of Creative Self, and Traumatic Event Questionnaire. Four major ethnicity groups were compared: Black (14%), Asian (22%), White (38%), Latinx (25%). Cumulative traumatic events, creative personal identity, creative self-efficacy, and most creative processing variables were similar across the four ethnicity groups. The experiential creative process, distinct experience, was significantly higher in the Black and Asian groups compared to the White group. Findings related to specific childhood adversity and adult traumatic experiences indicated the likelihood of different group membership, with the Black group experiencing higher rates of childhood physical abuse, physical neglect, parental separation, family member incarcerated, witnessing a traumatic event, and in danger of losing their lives. The White group had a higher prevalence rate of a family member struggling with substance abuse and suffering a mental illness. The Asian group had more likelihood of experiencing childhood emotional abuse. A unique finding in this study was that the experiential creative process, power and pleasure predicted creative self-efficacy, and the centrality of the creative process predicted creative personal identity. Ethnicity and cumulative trauma were not significant predictors for creative self-efficacy and creative personal identity. Engaging in creative activities may promote well-being and provide a platform to reduce inequalities. The creative self was not limited by adversity or ethnicity.

Childhood abuse and anxiety, depression – An interprofessional approach to optimize knowledge and awareness among young adult health professions students of Arunachal Pradesh, India

BackgroundChild abuse is a major public health concern with deep rooted squeal events on adult mental health. The childhood negligence and abusive events is connected invariably with anxiety and depressive disorders in adult life. ObjectivesThe study focused to determine the prevalence of child abuse, and connection of child abuse with depression and anxiety in course of adulthood, and to evaluate the effect of Interprofessional approach on the knowledge and awareness on child abuse and legal polices among young adult students of health professions in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Participants and settingFour hundred sixty-one young adult health professions students from Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) and related health sciences institutes in the Itanagar capital complex region of Arunachal Pradesh between age group of 18–25 years. MethodsA semi structured self-administered questionnaire was adopted to measure the prevalence of child abuse, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) questionnaire to grade the severity of depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire to grade severity of anxiety. Interprofessional intervention interactive sessions with a psychologist, psychiatrist, and advocate were held after pre-test. Before and after the intervention, the participants' awareness and knowledge on various types of child abuse& negligence and legal policies were assessed. ResultsThe overall prevalence of child abuse in any form was 73.42 %. Physical abuse was the most frequent form, accounting for 65.26 %, followed by childhood negligence (62.63 %), emotional abuse (53.15 %), and sexual abuse (23.42 %). Higher incidence of psychological distress with depression (80 %) and anxiety (55.52 %) was observed in participants with previous history of childhood abuse. There was a significant improvement in the knowledge and awareness on various forms of child abuse and negligence (p < 0.05) and legal policies (16.05 % before intervention, 85.90 % after intervention) (p < 0.05) after intervention sessions with interprofessional members. ConclusionsThe interprofessional interactive sessions exhibited significant improvement in the knowledge and awareness in terms of child abuse and policies in all domains. Utmost need and necessity of including implementation of interprofessional intervention interactive sessions or counselling program in academic institutions specially in developing states where there is a lack of awareness and easy access to services.

Association of Neural Connectome With Early Experiences of Abuse in Adults

More than 10% of children experience sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, and abuse experienced during sensitive neurodevelopmental periods is associated with a greater risk of psychiatric disorders. To investigate the extent to which a history of abuse is associated with alterations in the intrinsic functional connectome of the adult brain independent from the restriction of associated psychiatric conditions. This cohort study assessed data from 768 adult participants from the greater Sydney, Australia, area who were included in the study without diagnostic restrictions and categorized based on a history of childhood sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse. Data were collected from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2015; data analysis was performed from October 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022. Outcomes were structured psychiatric interview responses, self-report of the frequency and extent of various types of negative experiences in childhood and adolescence, and intrinsic functional connectivity derived from 5 functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks and estimated among 436 brain regions, comprising intranetwork and internetwork connectivity of 8 large-scale brain networks. Among the 647 individuals with usable data (330 female [51.0%]; mean [SD] age, 33.3 [12.0] years; age range, 18.2-69.2 years), history of abuse was associated with greater likelihood of a current psychiatric illness (odds ratio, 4.55; 95% CI, 3.07-6.72; P < .001) and with greater depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms (mean difference, 20.4; 95% CI, 16.1-24.7; P < .001). An altered connectome signature of higher connectivity within somatomotor, dorsal, and ventral attention networks and between these networks and executive control and default mode networks was observed in individuals with a history of abuse experienced during childhood (n = 127) vs those without a history of abuse (n = 442; mean difference, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.05-0.08; familywise, Bonferroni-corrected P = .01; Cohen d = 0.82) and compared with those who experienced abuse in adolescence (n = 78; mean difference, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.04-0.08]; familywise, Bonferroni-corrected P < .001; Cohen d = 0.68). Connectome alterations were not observed for those who experienced abuse in adolescence. Connectivity of this signature was transdiagnostic and independent of the nature and frequency of abuse, sex, or current symptomatic state. Findings highlight the associations of exposure to abuse before and during adolescence with the whole-brain functional connectome. The experience of child abuse was found to be associated with physiologic changes in intrinsic connectivity, independent of psychopathology, in a way that may affect functioning of systems responsible for perceptual processing and attention.

Childhood emotional maltreatment, maladaptive coping and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Previous studies have reported childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) to be associated with specific obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, but maladaptive coping, which may be the underlying mechanism in this relationship, has not been evaluated yet. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the effects of CEM on the OC symptoms of responsibility for harm and unacceptable thoughts, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) severity, through maladaptive coping, including cognitive avoidance, experiential avoidance and emotional suppression in OCD patients (n = 360). The results showed that CEM had direct effects, as well as indirect effects via cognitive and experiential avoidance and emotional suppression, on responsibility for harm and unacceptable thoughts. In addition, the indirect effect of CEM on OCD severity was significantly mediated by the roles of cognitive avoidance and experiential avoidance. The present study adds new literature to evidence indicating the role of early childhood events in developing and maintaining OCD in which adverse maladaptive coping related to unpleasant childhood abuse plays an important role in OCD. More precisely, OCD patients who experience a history of CEM may further use maladaptive coping to cope with their distress and subsequently experience responsibility for harm, unacceptable thoughts and severe OCD.

Understanding the Link between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Eating Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Self-Criticism

ABSTRACT Childhood neglect and abuse, defined as risk factors for various psychopathologies are significant for forming disordered eating behaviors. Nevertheless, the effect of childhood emotional abuse on eating behaviors and the mechanisms through which this relationship forms still need to be understood. This study tested the mediating role of self-criticism (hated and inadequate self) between childhood emotional abuse and eating behaviors (emotional, uncontrolled, and cognitive restricted eating). A total of 430 undergraduate students (66.3% female, N = 285) have completed measures related to emotional abuse, self-criticism, and eating behaviors. The Structural Equation Model supported the mediating role of self-criticism in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and eating behaviors. Results indicated that self-criticism explained 12% of the eating behaviors. The indirect effect of self-criticism is significant for obesity-related eating behaviors and restricted eating behavior. In addition, results predict gender differences in eating behaviors. All these findings suggest that eating behaviors may emerge as a dysfunctional way of dealing with negative self-evaluation due to emotional abuse in childhood. Therefore, the study contributes to understanding the underlying processes of unhealthy eating behaviors that can be seen as a premise of eating pathologies.

Association between childhood trauma, intimate partner violence, and perceived parental competence among women abusing amphetamine-type stimulant.

This cross-sectional study examines the correlation between childhood trauma, intimate partner violence (IPV), and parenting self-efficacy among women who reported using amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in an institutional drug rehabilitation center. A total of 106 participants were recruited by purposive sampling, of which 88 were mothers. Questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic data and study variables. Most of these women had experienced emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and physical neglect in their childhood. IPV assessments revealed that 70.5% (n = 74) and 30.5% (n = 32) had experienced physical and sexual violence, respectively. In terms of parenting competency, they scored 79.5% for self-efficacy and 54.4% for parenting satisfaction. Childhood emotional abuse significantly increases the odds of individuals experiencing sexual violence by 20.9%. We found that childhood trauma and IPV did not have a significant relationship with parenting efficacy. Conversely, childhood emotional abuse and physical abuse were negatively correlated to parenting satisfaction. It is imperative that any form of childhood abuse be recognized and stopped early to reduce the harm it brings to women later in life.