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The roles of shame and poor self-concept in explaining low social connection among adult survivors of childhood emotional maltreatment.
- Source :
-
Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy [Psychol Trauma] 2024 Oct; Vol. 16 (7), pp. 1149-1157. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 17. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Emotional maltreatment (EM) is the most common retrospectively self-reported form of child abuse/neglect. One potential negative outcome for EM survivors is a lack of social connection (SC; i.e., feeling interpersonally distant from others, socially uncomfortable, etc.). Explanations of the link between EM and low SC, however, are insufficiently tested. Theory and empirical work point to shame as a ubiquitous consequence of EM that negatively affects self-concept and is also associated with low SC in adulthood.<br />Objective: We test the hypothesis that experiences of EM lead to shame that impairs the development of social self-concept and, ultimately, one's sense of SC.<br />Participants and Setting: We collected self-report data from 244 American college students.<br />Method: Using structural equation modeling, we tested shame and social self-concept as sequential mediators of the path from EM to SC.<br />Results: Shame and social self-concept mediated the relationship between EM and SC, bringing this direct path below significance. Social self-concept partially mediated shame and SC. Overall, our model accounted for 77% of the variability in SC.<br />Conclusions: Children subjected to EM by caregivers are likely to experience themselves as deeply flawed (i.e., shame) and have difficulty developing a secure sense of themselves, especially as relational beings. Our results suggest that when shame interferes with the development of a positive social self-concept, survivors of EM are at-risk for low SC. Treatment implications include a focus on healing shame and building social self-concept. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1942-969X
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37589713
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001559