Citation

Schulz P, Beblo T, Ribbert H, Kater L, Spannhorst S, Driessen M, Hennig-Fast K. Child Abuse Negl. 2017; 72: 98-109.

Affiliation

Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel (EvKB), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Division of General Psychiatry, Bethesdaweg 12, D-33617 Bielefeld, Germany; Faculty of Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology, Health, Development, Enhancement, and Intervention, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: Kristina.Hennig-Fast@evkb.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.07.022

PMID

28787645

Abstract

Accumulated evidence provides support that childhood emotional abuse (CEA) is related to adult major depressive disorder (MDD) outcomes. However, the psychological mechanisms of this relation are still not well understood. Changes in personality and emotion regulation are indicated to play a mediating role what should be examined in this paper. A sample of 123 MDD inpatients was examined in a prospective observational study with two times of measurement. Patients provided data on childhood trauma history, personality disorder (PD) traits and emotion acceptance. Self- and expert-ratings of depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment. Treatment duration as an objective indicator of treatment outcome was additionally considered. Partial correlation analyses revealed associations between CEA and self-ratings of MDD symptom severity and symptom improvement independent of sexual and physical abuse. Expert-ratings of depression and treatment duration were not related to CEA. Mediation analyses revealed that particularly the factors borderline psychopathology as well as acceptance of pleasant emotions mediated the association of CEA and self-rated MDD symptoms. Passive-aggressive PD traits mediated the link between CEA and a lower self-rated symptom improvement. CEA affect specific personality traits and acceptance of emotions. This association may play a critical role for self-reported depressive symptoms with implications for prevention, psychoeducation, and treatment of MDD.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Child maltreatment; Depression; Emotion regulation; Emotional abuse; Mediation; Personality