Influence of Childhood Psychological Maltreatment on Peer Attachment Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediation Effects of Emotion Regulation Strategies

Abstract

The formation of peer attachment is vitally important for the mental health of adolescents. Additionally, converging evidences show that childhood emotional trauma leads to poor peer attachment during adolescence. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism accounting for the link between early emotional trauma and adolescent peer attachment. Therefore, the present study is intended to examine the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment (CPM) and peer attachment among Chinese adolescents and reveal its underlying mechanism. In total, we collected data from 670 adolescents (36.5% males and 63.5% females, M_age = 16.44 years, SD = 0.78) attending two Chinese high schools. These participants completed measurement scales for CPM (emotional abuse and neglect), peer attachment, and emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES). The multiple mediation models showed that emotional neglect negatively predicted adolescent peer attachment but that emotional abuse did not. Furthermore, the two emotion regulation strategies, CR and ES, completely mediated the relationship between emotional abuse and peer attachment and partially mediated the relationship between emotional neglect and peer attachment. These findings extend the existing studies on adolescent peer attachment and elucidate how childhood emotional trauma negatively influences adolescent peer attachment. In addition, the present results provide implications for improving the peer attachment of adolescents. On one hand, appropriate family intervention should be implemented to reduce CPM. On the other hand, schools can focus on improving the peer attachment of adolescents by enhancing their emotion regulation. Specifically, adolescents should be taught how to use adaptive strategies, such as CR, to regulate negative emotions.

Keywords

childhood psychological maltreatment peer attachment emotion regulation adolescents

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Armsden

G. C.

Greenberg

M. T.

(1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427–454. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02202939

Arslan

. (2016). Psychological maltreatment, emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents: The mediating role of resilience and self-esteem. Child Abuse & Neglect, 52, 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.09.010

Baker

A. J.

Festinger

. (2011). Emotional abuse and emotional neglect subscales of the CTQ: Associations with each other, other measures of psychological maltreatment, and demographic variables. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(11), 2297–2302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.07.018

Bernstein

Stein

J. A.

Newcomb

M. D.

Walker

Pogge

Ahluvalia

Stokes

Handelsman

Medrano

Desmond

Zule

(2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 169–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(02)00541-0

Berzenski

S. R.

(2019). Distinct emotion regulation skills explain psychopathology and problems in social relationships following childhood emotional abuse and neglect. Development and Psychopathology, 31(2), 483–496. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579418000020

Bowlby

(1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 664–678. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1982.tb01456.x

Bowlby

(1997). The making and breaking of affectional bonds: I. Aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130(3), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.130.3.201

Bradbury

L. L.

Shaffer

(2012). Emotion dysregulation mediates the link between childhood emotional maltreatment and young adult romantic relationship satisfaction. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 21(5), 497–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2012.678466

Brassard

M. R.

Hart

S. N.

Glaser

(2020). Psychological maltreatment: An international challenge to children’s safety and well being. Child Abuse & Neglect, 110, 104611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104611

10.

Bronfenbrenner

(1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513

11.

Busso

D. S.

McLaughlin

K. A.

Brueck

Peverill

Gold

A. L.

Sheridan

M. A.

(2017). Child abuse, neural structure, and adolescent psychopathology: A longitudinal study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(4), 321–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.01.013

12.

Carvalho Fernando

Beblo

Schlosser

Terfehr

Otte

Löwe

Wolf

O. T.

Spitzer

Driessen

Wingenfeld

. (2014). The impact of self-reported childhood trauma on emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder and major depression. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15(4), 384–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2013.863262

13.

Chen

Liu

Zhang

(2016). Chinese revision of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24(2), 259–263. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2016.02.016

14.

Collins

W. A.

Repinski

D. J

. In: Montemayor

Adams

G. R.

Gullotta

T. P.

(Eds.) 1994). Relationships during adolescence: continuity and change in interpersonal perspective. Personal relationships during adolescence. (pp. 7–36). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

15.

Danese

(2020). Annual research review: Rethinking childhood trauma-new research directions for measurement, study design and analytical strategies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(3), 236–250. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13160

16.

Dryman

M. T.

Heimberg

R. G.

(2018). Emotion regulation in social anxiety and depression: A systematic review of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 65, 17–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.07.004

17.

Eisenberg

Fabes

R. A.

Guthrie

I. K.

Reiser

(2000). Dispositional emotionality and regulation: Their role in predicting quality of social functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 136–157. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.136

18.

Fernandez

K. C.

Jazaieri

Gross

J. J.

(2016). Emotion regulation: A transdiagnostic perspective on a new RDoC domain. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40(3), 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-016-9772-2

19.

Gorrese

Ruggieri

(2013). Peer attachment and self-esteem: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 559–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.04.025

20.

Gross

J. J.

(1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

21.

Gross

J. J

. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781

22.

Gross

J. J.

John

O. P.

(2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348

23.

Gullone

Taffe

(2012). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ–CA): A psychometric evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 24(2), 409–417. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025777

24.

Gyurak

Gross

J. J.

Etkin

. (2011). Explicit and implicit emotion regulation: A dual-process framework. Cognition and Emotion, 25(3), 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2010.544160

25.

Haslam

Taylor

E. P.

(2022). The relationship between child neglect and adolescent interpersonal functioning: A systematic review. Child Abuse & Neglect, 125, 105510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105510

26.

Chen

Fan

Cai

Hao

(2018). Profiles of parent and peer attachments of adolescents and associations with psychological outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 94, 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.10.001

27.

Heleniak

Jenness

J. L.

Vander Stoep

McCauley

McLaughlin

K. A.

(2016). Childhood maltreatment exposure and disruptions in emotion regulation: A transdiagnostic pathway to adolescent internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40(3), 394–415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9735-z

28.

Hong

Tarullo

A. R.

Mercurio

A. E.

Liu

Cai

Malley-Morrison

(2018). Childhood maltreatment and perceived stress in young adults: The role of emotion regulation strategies, self-efficacy, and resilience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 86, 136–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.09.014

29.

Jenness

J. L.

Peverill

Miller

A. B.

Heleniak

Robertson

M. M.

Sambrook

K. A.

Sheridan

M. A.

McLaughlin

K. A.

(2021). Alterations in neural circuits underlying emotion regulation following child maltreatment: A mechanism underlying trauma-related psychopathology. Psychological Medicine, 51(11), 1880–1889. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720000641

30.

Lee

(2018). Developmental trajectories and longitudinal mediation effects of self-esteem, peer attachment, child maltreatment and depression on early adolescents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 76, 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.015

31.

Kim

H. G.

H. Y.

(2016). The effect of child neglect and abuse by parents on school adjustment of school-aged children: The mediating effects of self-awareness and peer attachment. Korean Journal of Childcare and Education, 12(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.14698/jkcce.2016.12.019

32.

Kim

Cicchetti

. (2010). Longitudinal pathways linking child maltreatment, emotion regulation, peer relations, and psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(6), 706–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02202.x

33.

Lan

Wang

(2020). To be shy or avoidant? Exploring the longitudinal association between attachment and depressive symptoms among left-behind adolescents in rural China. Personality and Individual Differences, 155, 109634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109634

34.

Lee

S. H.

Walker

Z. M.

Hale

J. B.

Chen

S. A.

(2017). Frontal-subcortical circuitry in social attachment and relationships: A cross-sectional fMRI ALE meta-analysis. Behavioural Brain Research, 325, 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2017.02.032

35.

Lee

S. W.

Kim

Lee

S. J.

Cha

Song

Won

Chang

Jeong

(2021). Effects of emotional maltreatment on semantic network activity during cognitive reappraisal. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 15(3), 1181–1190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-020-00318-2

36.

Xie

Ding

Jiang

Lin

Kayani

(2022a). Longitudinal relationship between beliefs about adversity and learning engagement in Chinese left-behind children: Hope as a mediator and peer attachment as a moderator. Current Psychology, 42, 12814–12821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02671-x

37.

Zhao

(2022b). Childhood emotional abuse and depression among adolescents: Roles of deviant peer affiliation and gender. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), NP830–NP850. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520918586

38.

Lim

(2020). Self-esteem as a mediator in the longitudinal relationship between dysfunctional parenting and peer attachment in early adolescence. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105224

39.

Lim

Lee

(2017). Relationships between parental maltreatment and adolescents’ school adjustment: Mediating roles of self-esteem and peer attachment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(2), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0573-8

40.

Liu

Dou

Nie

Zheng

(2021). The relationship between peer attachment and aggressive behavior among Chinese adolescents: The mediating effect of regulatory emotional self-efficacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(13), 7123. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137123

41.

C. Q.

Huebner

E. S.

(2008). Attachment relationships and adolescents’ life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys. Psychology in the Schools, 45(2), 177–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20288

42.

Malonda

Llorca

Mesurado

Samper

Mestre

M. V.

(2019). Parents or peers? Predictors of prosocial behavior and aggression: A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2379. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02379

43.

Maughan

Cicchetti

(2002). Impact of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children’s emotion regulation abilities and socioemotional adjustment. Child Development, 73(5), 1525–1542. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00488

44.

McDowell

D. J.

Parke

R. D.

(2009). Parental correlates of children’s peer relations: An empirical test of a tripartite model. Developmental Psychology, 45(1), 224–235. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014305

45.

McLaughlin

K. A.

Peverill

Gold

A. L.

Alves

Sheridan

M. A.

(2015). Child maltreatment and neural systems underlying emotion regulation. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(9), 753–762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2015.06.010

46.

Muthén

L. K.

Muthén

B. O

. (2019). Mplus statistical analysis (Version 8.3). Muthén & Muthén.

47.

Oldfield

Humphrey

Hebron

(2016). The role of parental and peer attachment relationships and school connectedness in predicting adolescent mental health outcomes. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 21(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12108

48.

O’Mahen

H. A.

Karl

Moberly

Fedock

(2015). The association between childhood maltreatment and emotion regulation: Two different mechanisms contributing to depression? Journal of Affective Disorders, 174, 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.11.028

49.

Pan

Zhang

Ran

Liu

Luo

Chen

(2017). Parental and peer attachment and adolescents’ behaviors: The mediating role of psychological suzhi in a longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review, 83, 218–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.038

50.

Rassart

J. U. J. C.

Luyckx

K. U.

Apers

S. U.

Goossens

E. U.

Moons

P. U. J

. (2012). Identity dynamics and peer relationship quality in adolescents with a chronic disease: the sample case of congenital heart disease. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 33(8), 625–632. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP

51.

Schwartz-Mette

R. A.

Lawrence

H. R.

Shankman

Fearey

Harrington

(2021). Intrapersonal emotion regulation difficulties and maladaptive interpersonal behavior in adolescence. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49, 749–761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00739-z

52.

Stoltenborgh

Bakermans-Kranenburg

M. J.

Alink

L. R.

van IJzendoorn

M. H

. (2015). The prevalence of child maltreatment across the globe: Review of a series of meta-analyses. Child Abuse Review, 24(1), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2353

53.

Shore

Cohen Kadosh

Lommen

Cooper

Lau

J. Y.

(2017). Investigating the effectiveness of brief cognitive reappraisal training to reduce fear in adolescents. Cognition and Emotion, 31(4), 806–815. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1159542

54.

Suveg

Jacob

M. L.

Payne

(2010). Parental interpersonal sensitivity and youth social problems: A mediational role for child emotion dysregulation. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(6), 677–686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9354-y

55.

Volkaert

Wante

Van Beveren

M. L.

Vervoort

Braet

(2020). Training adaptive emotion regulation skills in early adolescents: The effects of distraction, acceptance, cognitive reappraisal, and problem solving. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44(3), 678–696. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-019-10073-4

56.

Wager

T. D.

Davidson

M. L.

Hughes

B. L.

Lindquist

M. A.

Ochsner

K. N.

(2008). Prefrontal-subcortical pathways mediating successful emotion regulation. Neuron, 59(6), 1037–1050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.09.006

57.

Wang

(2021). Harsh parental discipline, parent-child attachment, and peer attachment in late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 30(1), 196–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01860-9

58.

Wang

Yang

Gao

Yang

Lei

Wang

(2017). Childhood maltreatment and Chinese adolescents’ bullying and defending: The mediating role of moral disengagement. Child Abuse & Neglect, 69, 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.04.016

59.

Wang

Chen

J. K.

(2023). Child maltreatment, social relationships and psychological distress: A multiple mediational analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 145, 106802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106802

60.

Wilkinson

R. B.

(2004). The role of parental and peer attachment in the psychological health and self-esteem of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33(6), 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:joyo.0000048063.59425.20

61.

Wright

M. F.

Aoyama

Kamble

S. V.

Soudi

Lei

Shu

(2015). Peer attachment and cyber aggression involvement among Chinese, Indian, and Japanese adolescents. Societies, 5(2), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5020339

62.

Zhao

(2020). Childhood maltreatment and prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents: Roles of empathy and gratitude. Child Abuse & Neglect, 101, 104319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104319

63.

Zhang

Zhao

(2022). Psychological maltreatment and depression symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A multiple mediation model. Child Abuse & Neglegt, 134, 105940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105940