California State University,Northridge.
Dev Psychopathol. 2019 May;31(2):483-496. doi: 10.1017/S0954579418000020. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
Efforts to differentiate between the developmental sequelae of childhood emotional abuse and childhood emotional neglect are critical to both research and practice efforts. As an oft-identified mechanism of the effects of child maltreatment on later adjustment, emotion dysregulation represents a key potential pathway. The present study explored a higher order factor model of specific emotion regulation skills, and the extent to which these skill sets would indicate distinct developmental pathways from unique emotional maltreatment experiences to multidomain adjustment. A sample of 500 ethnoracially diverse college students reported on their experiences. A two-factor model of emotion regulation skills based on subscales of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale was revealed. Significant indirect effects of childhood emotional abuse on psychopathology and problems in social relationships were found through response-focused difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas a significant indirect effect of childhood emotional neglect on problems in social relationships was found through antecedent-focused difficulties in emotion regulation. These results are consistent with theoretical models and empirical evidence suggesting differential effects of childhood emotional abuse and emotional neglect, and provide an important indication for developing targeted interventions focusing on specific higher order emotion dysregulation skill clusters.
努力区分儿童情绪虐待和儿童情绪忽视的发展后果,对于研究和实践工作都至关重要。情绪调节障碍作为儿童虐待对后期适应影响的一个常见机制,代表了一个关键的潜在途径。本研究探讨了特定情绪调节技能的高阶因素模型,以及这些技能集在多大程度上能够从独特的情绪虐待经历到多领域适应中,指示出不同的发展途径。一个由 500 名不同种族的大学生组成的样本报告了他们的经历。基于情绪调节困难量表的子量表,揭示了情绪调节技能的两因素模型。通过情绪反应焦点的困难调节,发现儿童情绪虐待对精神病理学和人际关系问题有显著的间接影响,而通过情绪前焦点的困难调节,发现儿童情绪忽视对人际关系问题有显著的间接影响。这些结果与理论模型和实证证据一致,表明儿童情绪虐待和忽视的影响不同,并为开发针对特定高阶情绪失调技能集群的有针对性干预措施提供了重要指示。