Psychol Trauma. 2023 Sep 11. doi: 10.1037/tra0001581. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Global emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and severe depressive symptoms; however, there is a lack of research on maladaptive personality traits and their contribution to individual differences in global emotion dysregulation within this conceptual model. The present study tested a preliminary serial mediation model where maladaptive personality traits and global emotion dysregulation mediate the relationship between child maltreatment and severe depressive symptoms.
METHOD: A total of 200 patients with mood disorders (Mage = 36.5 years; 54% females) were assessed for maladaptive personality traits (Personality Inventory for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [5th ed.] Brief Form), global emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short), childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9).
RESULTS: Ordinary least squares regression and partial least squares-structural equation modeling revealed a consistent and significant indirect effect of child maltreatment on severe depressive symptoms through negative affectivity, detachment, psychoticism, and global emotion dysregulation. Among child maltreatment types, only emotional abuse had a significant indirect effect on severe depressive symptoms through maladaptive personality traits and global emotion dysregulation, b = 0.50, SE = 0.09, 95% confidence intervals [0.326, 0.694] after controlling for age, gender, and remaining types of child maltreatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the view that maladaptive personality traits shed important insights on individual differences in global emotion dysregulation, and this information could aid clinical formulation and treatment of childhood adversity-related psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
PMID:37695361 | DOI:10.1037/tra0001581
