Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Internalizing Problems in a Non-Clinical Sample of Adolescents. A Moderated-Mediation Model of Insecure Anxious Attachment Style and Gender

Abstract

Childhood emotional maltreatment (abuse and neglect) may contribute to the development of internalizing problems in ado- lescence. However, the mechanisms explaining this association should be examined further. This study explored the mediating role of insecure anxious attachment style in the relationship be- tween emotional maltreatment and internalizing symptoms in a non-clinical sample of adolescents. Analyses were also conducted to determine whether gender moderated the direct and indirect pathways between emotional maltreatment and internalizing prob- lems. We recruited 449 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years old [(Mage)=16.46, standard deviation (SD)=1.38]. 60.8% of ado- lescents were female (Mage=16.51, SD=1.43), whereas 39.2% identified as male (Mage=16.39, SD=1.28). Participants completed a survey including socio-demographic information and three self- report questionnaires: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, the Attachment Style Questionnaire, and the Youth Self- Report for ages 11-18. Results showed that emotional abuse and neglect were related to internalizing problems both directly and indirectly through anxious attachment style. Girls who experi- enced higher levels of emotional abuse and who had an anxious attachment style reported more internalizing problems than boys, whereas higher levels of emotional neglect were associated with increasing levels of internalizing problems only for boys. This study expanded our knowledge of the role of anxious attachment in the onset of internalizing problems among adolescents with ex- periences of childhood emotional maltreatment.