The Impact of Childhood Emotional  Maltreatment and Emotion Dysregulation on Perception of Child-Parent Interaction in Adolescence

BACKGROUND: Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been identified as a considerable threat to adaptive child development. Emotion regulation is commonly impaired in victims of CEM, which can adversely impact broader socio-emotional functioning, such as the quality of child-parent interactions in adolescence. The current study examines to what extent maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (i.e., catastrophizing and rumination) mediate the association between experienced CEM and the quality of child-parent interactions as perceived by the adolescent. METHOD: The healthy control group of the larger RE-PAIR study (‘Unravelling the Impact of Emotional Maltreatment on the Developing Brain’) was included, incorporating adolescents (N = 80, age 11 to17) and their parents (N (Mothers) = 80, N (Fathers) = 76). Adolescent participants performed a reminiscence task with each parent and consecutively filled in a questionnaire to assess perceived parental interaction and communication...Show moreBACKGROUND: Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been identified as a considerable threat to adaptive child development. Emotion regulation is commonly impaired in victims of CEM, which can adversely impact broader socio-emotional functioning, such as the quality of child-parent interactions in adolescence. The current study examines to what extent maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (i.e., catastrophizing and rumination) mediate the association between experienced CEM and the quality of child-parent interactions as perceived by the adolescent. METHOD: The healthy control group of the larger RE-PAIR study (‘Unravelling the Impact of Emotional Maltreatment on the Developing Brain’) was included, incorporating adolescents (N = 80, age 11 to17) and their parents (N (Mothers) = 80, N (Fathers) = 76). Adolescent participants performed a reminiscence task with each parent and consecutively filled in a questionnaire to assess perceived parental interaction and communication behaviors during the task. CEM and emotion regulation were assessed through online versions of a Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and a Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. RESULTS: Two underlying factors were formulated after performing Principal Component Analyses (PCAs) on the perceived behavior per parent, namely ‘perceived general satisfaction with the interaction’ and ‘perceived criticism’. CEM did not predict either formulated outcome, for parents together and mothers separately. However, CEM had a negative effect on perceived general satisfaction, (F(1,64) = 6.175, b = -.502, p = .016) and a positive effect on perceived criticism, (F(1,64) = 6.612, b = .127, p = .012) by the adolescent during the interaction with their father. No mediation effects were found for either catastrophizing or rumination. DISCUSSION: Suggestions for future research include comparisons between different childhood maltreatment and to assess emotion dysregulation on multiple levels of functioning.Show less

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The Impact of Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Emotion Dysregulation on Perception of Child-Parent Interaction in Adolescence