This thesis aims to address the existing research gap on protective factors related to child abuse and neglect and the successive traumatic complaints. It examines the relationship between child...Show moreThis thesis aims to address the existing research gap on protective factors related to child abuse and neglect and the successive traumatic complaints. It examines the relationship between child abuse and neglect and traumatic complaints, including the possible moderating effect of cognitive functioning. Existing research in this field has uneven gender distributions, women are being researched more, which this thesis aims to balance. The study design is correlational, using a dataset (n = 241) obtained from Buisman et al.'s (2020) research. It has an even distribution of males (42.3 %) and females (57.7%), and the age ranges from 25 to 87 years (M = 50.97, SD = 13.43), comprising participants from the Netherlands with a mostly Western background. Participants were targeted if they had a history of experienced or committed abuse. Various measures were executed, including the RAVEN (cognitive functioning), a combination of the CTQ and CTS-PC questionnaires (experienced child abuse and neglect), and an interview using the PSSI-5 (traumatic complaints). The results showed that women have a significantly higher degree of traumatic complaints. Child abuse and neglect have a significant negative association with traumatic complaints. And lastly, cognitive functioning was not a significant moderator. The discussion stresses balanced gender research, as current focus tends to be on women. Understanding the reasons behind women's higher levels of traumatic complaints, as to how this imbalance can be levelled, is crucial. Even so, a balance in research into protective and risk factors is desirable, as the latter is being researched more. It is worth noting that a potential issue with internal validity arose; the main hypothesis was based on research on IQ, while cognitive functioning served as a possible moderator in this study. Further research is required to examine the moderating effect of general intelligence, measured through multiple variables, for instance cognitive functioning and IQ.Show less
