One of the most devastating long-term outcomes of childhood maltreatment is a sense of shame, which is connected to distress and reduced well-being. The aim of the current study was to examine a dual-path model and to test the relations between childhood maltreatment, shame, and well-being as mediated by both self-objectification and a sense of disrupted body boundaries among 531 female college/university students living in Israel. Results from the structural equation modeling analyses indicated that both self-objectification and disrupted body boundaries significantly mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and sense of shame. In addition, both were associated with reduced levels of well-being, through the mediating role of shame. Finally, we discuss the role these paths may play in the detrimental long-term effects of childhood maltreatment and how they may be targeted in clinical interventions for adult survivors.
AbrahamssonS.SimpsonP. (2011). The limits of the body: Boundaries, capacities, thresholds. Social & Cultural Geography, 12, 331–338. doi:10.1080/14649365.2011.579696
2.
AnabyD.JarusT.ZumboB. D. (2010). Psychometric evaluation of the Hebrew language version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Social Indicators Research, 96, 267–274. doi:10.1007/s11205-009-9476-z
3.
AndrewsB.QianM.ValentineJ. D. (2002). Predicting depressive symptoms with a new measure of shame: The Experience of Shame Scale. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 29–42. doi:10.1348/014466502163778
4.
AnzieuD.TurnerC. T. (1989). The skin ego. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
5.
ArbuckleJ. L. (1996). Full information estimation in the presence of incomplete data. In MarcoulidesG. A.SchumackerR. E. (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling (pp. 243–277). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
6.
ArbuckleJ. L. (2013). IBM SPSS AMOS 22 user’s guide. Spring House, PA: Amos Development Corporation.
7.
BaerR. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 125–143. doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg015
8.
Ben-ZurH. (2002). Coping, affect and aging: The roles of mastery and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 357–372. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00031-9
9.
BernsteinD. P.SteinJ. A.NewcombM. D.WalkerE.PoggeD.AhluvaliaT.…ZuleW. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 169–190. doi:10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00541-0
10.
BickE. (1968). The experience of the skin in early object-relations. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 484–486.
11.
BohusM.DyerA. S.PriebeK.KrügerA.KleindienstN.SchmahlC.…SteilR. (2013). Dialectical behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder after childhood sexual abuse in patients with and without borderline personality disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 82, 221–233. doi:10.1159/000348451
12.
BurrisC. T.RempelJ. K. (2004). “It’s the end of the world as we know it”: Threat and the spatial-symbolic self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 19–42. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.19
13.
BusseriM. A.SadavaS. W. (2011). A review of the tripartite structure of subjective well-being: Implications for conceptualization, operationalization, analysis, and synthesis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 290–314. doi:10.1177/1088868310391271
14.
ChomaB. L.ShoveC.BusseriM. A.SadavaS. W.HoskerA. (2009). Assessing the role of body image coping strategies as mediators or moderators of the links between self-objectification, body shame, and well-being. Sex Roles, 61, 699–713. doi:10.1348/000711201161109
15.
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (2008). Hedonia, eudaimonia, and wellbeing: An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 1–11. doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1
16.
DidieE. R.TortolaniC. C.PopeC. G.MenardW.FayC.PhillipsK. A. (2006). Childhood abuse and neglect in body dysmorphic disorder. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 1105–1115. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.03.007
DienerE. D.EmmonsR. A.LarsenR. J.GriffinS. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
19.
DienerE.LucasR. E.OishiS. (2005). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and life satisfaction. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 63–73). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
20.
DubowitzH.BlackM.StarrR. H.ZuravinS. (1993). A conceptual definition of child neglect. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20, 8–26. doi:10.1177/0093854893020001003
21.
DworkinA. (1985). Against the male flood: Censorship, pornography, and equality. Harvard Women’s Law Journal, 8, 1–29.
22.
DworkinA. (1987). Intercourse. New York, NY: Free Press Paperbacks.
23.
FeiringC.TaskaL. S. (2005). The persistence of shame following sexual abuse: A longitudinal look at risk and recovery. Child Maltreatment, 10, 337–349. doi:10.1177/1077559505276686
24.
FinkelhorD. (1987). The trauma of child sexual abuse two models. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 348–366. doi:10.1177/088626058700200402
25.
FinkelhorD.BrowneA. (1985). The traumatic impact of child sexual abuse: A conceptualization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 530–541. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1985.tb02703.x
26.
FinkelhorD.VandermindenJ.TurnerH.HambyS.ShattuckA. (2014). Child maltreatment rates assessed in a national household survey of caregivers and youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 1421–1435. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.05.005
27.
Finzi-DottanR.KaruT. (2006). From emotional abuse in childhood to psychopathology in adulthood: A path mediated by immature defense mechanisms and self-esteem. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 616–621. doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000230654.49933.23
28.
FisherS. (1971). Boundary effects of persistent inputs and messages. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77, 290–295. doi:10.1037/h0031003
29.
FredricksonB. L.HarrisonK. (2005). Throwing like a girl: Self-objectification predicts adolescent girls’ motor performance. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 29, 79–101. doi:10.1177/0193723504269878
30.
FredricksonB. L.RobertsT. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
31.
FredricksonB. L.RobertsT.NollS. M.QuinnD. M.TwengeJ. M. (1998). That swimsuit becomes you: Sex differences in self-objectification, restrained eating, and math performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 269–284. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.269
32.
GeanellosR. (2003). Understanding the need for personal space boundary restoration in women-client survivors of intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 12, 186–193. doi:10.1046/j.1440-0979.2003.00288.x
33.
GervaisS. J.DavidsonM. M. (2013). Objectification among college women in the context of intimate partner violence. Violence and Victims, 28, 36–49. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.28.1.36
34.
GinzburgK.ArnowB.HartS.GardnerW.KoopmanC.ClassenC. C.…SpiegelD. (2006). The abuse-related beliefs questionnaire for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 929–943. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.01.004
35.
GinzburgK.ButlerL. D.Giese-DavisJ.CavanaughC. E.NeriE.KoopmanC.…SpiegelD. (2009). Shame, guilt, and posttraumatic stress disorder in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse at risk for human immunodeficiency virus: Outcomes of a randomized clinical trial of group psychotherapy treatment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197, 536–542. doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e3181ab2ebd
36.
GinzburgK.TsurN.Barak-NahumA.DefrinR. (2014). Body awareness: Differentiating between sensitivity to and monitoring of bodily signals. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 37, 564–575. doi:10.1007/s10865-013-9514-9
37.
GladstoneG. L.ParkerG. B.MitchellP. B.MalhiG. S.WilhelmK.AustinM. P. (2004). Implications of childhood trauma for depressed women: An analysis of pathways from childhood sexual abuse to deliberate self-harm and revictimization. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 1417–1425. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.161.8.1417
38.
GoldJ.SullivanM. W.LewisM. (2011). The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: The conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35, 459–467. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.02.007
39.
GoslingS. D.VazireS.SrivastavaS.JohnO. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. American Psychologist, 59, 93–104. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.59.2.93
40.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118
41.
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. (2016). Students in universities, academic colleges and colleges of education, by gender, sex, population group and district of residence(8.56). Retrieved fromhttp://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/shnatonh_new.htm#8
42.
JamesW. (2001). Psychology: The briefer course. Toronto, Canada: General Publishing Company.
43.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York, NY: Free Press.
44.
KimM.HanH-RPhillipsL. (2003). Metric equivalence assessment in cross-cultural research: Using an example of the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 11, 5–18. doi:10.1891/jnum.11.1.5.52061
45.
KimJ.TalbotN. L.CicchettiD. (2009). Childhood abuse and current interpersonal conflict: The role of shame. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 362–371. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.10.003
46.
KlineR. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Guilford publications.
47.
Kochan-WójcikM. (2011). Experiencing one’s own corporeity vs. the level of differentiation of self. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 9, 71–88.
48.
KongS.BernsteinK. (2009). Childhood trauma as a predictor of eating psychopathology and its mediating variables in patients with eating disorders. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18, 1897–1907. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02740.x
49.
KorolikA.Kochan-WójcikM. (2015). Anorexia readiness syndrome and sensitivity to body boundaries breaches. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 13, 109–122. doi:10.1515/pjap-2015-0045
50.
KrystalH. (1988). Integration and self-healing: Affect-trauma-alexithymia. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytical Press.
51.
KrzewskaI.Dolińska-ZygmuntG. (2013). Sense of body boundaries survey–construction and psychometric values. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 11, 93–110.
52.
LangmuirJ. I.KirshS. G.ClassenC. C. (2012). A pilot study of body-oriented group psychotherapy: Adapting sensorimotor psychotherapy for the group treatment of trauma. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4, 214–220. doi:10.1037/a0025588
53.
LewisH. B. (1987). Shame: The “sleeper” in psychopathology. In LewisH. B. (Ed.), The role of shame in symptom formation (pp. 1–28). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
54.
LewisM. (2000). Self-conscious emotions: Embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt. In LewisM.Haviland-JonesJ. (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 623–636). New York, NY: Guilford.
55.
LinehanM. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
56.
LinleyP. A.MaltbyJ.WoodA. M.OsborneG.HurlingR. (2009). Measuring happiness: The higher order factor structure of subjective and psychological well-being measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 878–884. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.07.010
57.
LittleR. J. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202. doi:10.1080/01621459.1988.10478722
58.
MercurioA. E.LandryL. J. (2008). Self-objectification and well-being: The impact of self-objectification on women’s overall sense of self-worth and life satisfaction. Sex Roles, 58, 458–466. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9357-3
59.
Merleau-PontyM. (1996). Phenomenology of perception. New York, NY: Routledge.
60.
Miles-McLeanH.LissM.ErchullM. J.RobertsonC. M.HagermanC.GnolebaM. A.PappL. J. (2015). “Stop looking at me!” Interpersonal sexual objectification as a source of insidious trauma. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 39, 363–374. doi:10.1177/0361684314561018
61.
MuehlenkampJ. J.Saris-BaglamaR. N. (2002). Self-objectification and its psychological outcomes for college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 371–379. doi:10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00076
62.
NeacsiuA. D.LunguA.HarnedM. S.RizviS. L.LinehanM. M. (2014). Impact of dialectical behavior therapy versus community treatment by experts on emotional experience, expression, and acceptance in borderline personality disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 53, 47–54. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2013.12.004
63.
NollJ. G.HorowitzL. A.BonannoG. A.TrickettP. K.PutnamF. W. (2003). Revictimization and self-harm in females who experienced childhood sexual abuse: Results from a prospective study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18, 1452–1471. doi:10.1177/0886260503258035
64.
NussbaumM. (1995). Objectification. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 24, 249–291. doi:10.1111/j.1088-4963.1995.tb00032.x
65.
OgdenT. H. (1985). On potential space. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 66, 129–141.
66.
PaivioS. C.CramerK. M. (2004). Factor structure and reliability of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in a Canadian undergraduate student sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 889–904. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.01.011
67.
PaivioS. C.McCullochC. R. (2004). Alexithymia as a mediator between childhood trauma and self-injurious behaviors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 339–354. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.11.018
68.
PeredaN.GuileraG.FornsM.Gomez-BenitoJ. (2009). The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 328–338. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.007
69.
PrinzR. J.SandersM. R.ShapiroC. J.WhitakerD. J.LutzkerJ. R. (2009). Population-based prevention of child maltreatment: The US Triple P system population trial. Prevention Science, 10, 1–12. doi:10.1007/s11121-009-0123-3
70.
RahmG.RenckB.RingsbergK. C. (2006). “Disgust, disgust beyond description”—Shame cues to detect shame in disguise, in interviews with women who were sexually abused during childhood. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 13, 100–109. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2006.00927.x
71.
RichmondJ. M.ElliottA. N.PierceT. W.AspelmeierJ. E.AlexanderA. A. (2009). Polyvictimization, childhood victimization and psychological distress in college women. Child Maltreatment, 14, 127–147. doi:10.1177/1077559508326357
72.
RothschildB. (2000). The body remembers: The psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
73.
Sakson-ObadaO. (2010). Changes in sensing, the basic function of body ego, as a result of trauma. In Widera-WysoczańskaA.KuczyńskaA. (Eds.), Interpersonal trauma and its consequences in adulthood (pp. 139–152). Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.
74.
Sakson-ObadaO. (2014). Body ego and trauma as correlates of comfort in the physical proximity of others. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 45, 92–100. doi:10.2478/ppb-2014-0013
75.
SartreJ. P. (1943). Being and nothingness: A phenomenological essay on ontology. New York, NY: Philosophical Library.
76.
SchellK. L.OswaldF. L. (2013). Item grouping and item randomization in personality measurement. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 317–321. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2013.03.008
77.
SchmidtN. B.LerewD. R.TrakowskiJ. H. (1997). Body vigilance in panic disorder: Evaluating attention to bodily perturbations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 214–220. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.65.2.214
78.
ShroutP. E. (2011). Commentary: Mediation analysis, causal process, and cross-sectional data. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46, 852–860. doi:10.1080/00273171.2011.606718
79.
StoltenborghM.Bakermans-KranenburgM. J.van IjzendoornM. H. (2013). The neglect of child neglect: A meta-analytic review of the prevalence of neglect. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48, 345–355. doi:10.1007/s00127-012-0549-y
80.
StoltenborghM.Bakermans-KranenburgM. J.van IjzendoornM. H.AlinkL. R. (2013). Cultural–geographical differences in the occurrence of child physical abuse? A meta-analysis of global prevalence. International Journal of Psychology, 48, 81–94. doi:10.1080/00207594.2012.697165
81.
StoltenborghM.van IjzendoornM. H.EuserE. M.Bakermans-KranenburgM. J. (2011). A global perspective on child sexual abuse: Meta-analysis of prevalence around the world. Child Maltreatment, 16, 79–101. doi:10.1177/1077559511403920
82.
Streeck-FischerA.KolkB. A. (2000). Down will come baby, cradle and all: Diagnostic and therapeutic implications of chronic trauma on child development. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 903–918. doi:10.1080/000486700265
83.
SuyemotoK. L. (1998). The functions of self-mutilation. Clinical Psychology Review, 18, 531–554. doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(97)00105-0
84.
SwalesM.HeardH. J.WilliamsM. G. (2000). Linehan’s dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder: Overview and adaptation. Journal of Mental Health, 9, 7–23. doi:10.1080/09638230016921
85.
SzymanskiD. M.HenningS. L. (2007). The role of self-objectification in women’s depression: A test of objectification theory. Sex Roles, 56, 45–53. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9147-3
86.
TalmonA.GinzburgK. (2016). The nullifying experience of self-objectification: The development and psychometric evaluation of the Self-Objectification Scale. Child Abuse & Neglect, 60, 46–57. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.09.007
87.
TangneyJ. P. (1995). Shame and guilt in interpersonal relationships. In TangneyJ. P.FisherK. W. (Eds.), Self-conscious emotions: Shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride (pp. 114–139). New York, NY: Guildford Press.
88.
Van BurenB. R.MeehanK. B. (2015). Child maltreatment and vulnerable narcissism the roles of shame and disavowed need. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 63, 555–561. doi:10.1177/0003065115593058
89.
Van de VijverF. J. R.TanzerN. K. (1997). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural assessment: An overview. European Review of Applied Psychology, 47, 263–280. doi:10.1016/j.erap.2003.12.004
90.
VidalM. E.PetrakJ. (2007). Shame and adult sexual assault: A study with a group of female survivors recruited from an East London population. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 22, 159–171. doi:10.1080/14681990600784143
91.
VranicA. (2003). Personal space in physically abused children. Environment and Behavior, 35, 550–565. doi:10.1177/0013916503035004006
92.
WagnerA. W.LinehanM. M. (2006). Applications of dialectical behavior therapy to posttraumatic stress disorder and related problems. In FolletteV. M.RuzekJ. I. (Eds.), Cognitive-behavioral therapies for trauma (pp. 117–145). New York, NY: Guilford.
93.
WardP.ClarkT.ZabriskieR.MorrisT. (2014). Paper/pencil versus online data collection: An exploratory study. Journal of Leisure Research, 46, 84–105.
94.
WatsonD.ClarkL. A.TellegenA. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
95.
WatsonL. B.MathenyK. B.GagneP.BrackG.AncisJ. R. (2013). A model linking diverse women’s child sexual abuse history with sexual risk taking. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37, 22–37. doi:10.1177/0361684312454535
96.
WebbM.HeislerD.CallS.ChickeringS. A.ColburnT. A. (2007). Shame, guilt, symptoms of depression, and reported history of psychological maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 1143–1153. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.09.003
97.
WeselyJ. K. (2003). “Where am I going to stop?”: Exotic dancing, fluid body boundaries, and effects on identity. Deviant Behavior, 24, 483–503. doi:10.1080/713840248
WinnicottD. W. (1954). Mind and its relation to the psyche-soma. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 27, 201–209.
100.
WinnicottD. W. (1960). The theory of the parent-infant relationship. The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 41, 585–595.
101.
YadamaG. N.PandeyS. (1995). Effect of sample size on goodness-fit of-fit indices in structural equation models. Journal of Social Service Research, 20, 49–70. doi:10.1300/J079v20n03_03
102.
YaromN. (2014). Psychic threats and somatic shelters: Attuning to the body in contemporary psychoanalytic dialogue. New York, NY: Routledge.
