@article{ref1,
title="The mediating role of attachment and mentalising in the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality",
journal="Child abuse and neglect",
year="2022",
author="Stagaki, Maria and Nolte, Tobias and Feigenbaum, Janet and King-Casas, Brooks and Lohrenz, Terry and Fonagy, Peter and Montague, P. Read",
volume="128",
number="",
pages="e105576-e105576",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Although the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality is well-established, less is known about the mediating mechanisms explaining it. Based on a developmental mentalisation-based theoretical framework, childhood adversity compromises mentalising ability and attachment security, which in turn increase vulnerability to later stressors in adulthood. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the role of attachment and mentalising as potential mechanisms in the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: We recruited 907 adults from clinical and community settings in Greater London. <br><br>METHODS: The study design was cross-sectional. Participants completed self-report questionnaires on retrospectively rated childhood trauma, and current attachment to the romantic partner, mentalising, self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempt. We used structural equation modelling to examine the data and conceptualized childhood maltreatment as a general factor in a confirmatory bifactor model. <br><br>RESULTS: The results showed that childhood maltreatment was both directly associated with self-harm and suicidality and indirectly via the pathways of attachment and mentalising. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that insecure attachment and impaired mentalising partially explain the association between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality. Clinically, they provide support for the potential of mentalisation-based therapy or other psychosocial interventions that aim to mitigate the risk of self-harm and suicidality among individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment via increasing understanding of self and other mental states.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-2134",
doi="10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105576",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105576"
}