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An ongoing study of over 2,000 adults in the Netherlands has found that child abuse is associated with poorer quality relationships later in life.
Previous research has also shown that childhood abuse or neglect can lead to insecure attachment patterns in adulthood, but the present study goes further and suggests that these problems mainly stem from associated severe depression. to this childhood trauma.
The large cohort has been followed for almost a decade already. During the first, second, fourth, and sixth years of the study, the researchers assessed the participants for depression and anxiety. During the fourth year, the presence of child abuse was also assessed. In the ninth year, participants had the quality of their relationships assessed as well as their attachment styles.
Just over three-quarters of the group reported a history of depression or anxiety.
Similar to previous results, the authors found that respondents with a history of abuse also suffered from more severe depression and anxiety.
These individuals also reported lower quality relationships and higher levels of insecure attachment, including anxious attachment – exemplified by extreme levels of intimacy with low levels of autonomy – and avoidant attachment – exemplified by high levels of autonomy and discomfort with privacy.
Researchers tested various pathways to determine what all of these factors might have to do with each other. Controlling for gender, age, and education level, they found that the relationship between abuse and poor intimate relationships was “fully publicized” by insecure attachment and the severity of depression.
The researchers modeled six different pathways to see how one leads to the other, and the results indicated two distinct pathways through which this insecure attachment can develop. The strongest path connects child abuse with increased severity of depression, anxious attachment and, finally, inferior relationships.
“This pathway indicates that some people, who reported being abused as children, may develop low mood and other depressive symptoms, become more dependent and suspicious, which may be perceived as more clingy, and experience more distress. in the relationship, which could subsequently affect the quality of the relationship, ”the authors write.
The second path also links abuse to depression, but this time it’s the avoidant attachment that leads to poorer quality relationships.
This last stage occurs, the authors explain, because partners with an avoidant attachment tend to reject intimacy and have a harder time trusting and relying on others.
These two pathways will need to be replicated in further research, especially if we want to know how and why each factor can lead to another.
While the sample size in this research was quite large, some people with severe depression dropped out of the study, which means it might not be fully representative.
In addition, since childhood abuse has been recalled in the past, it is difficult to say whether the recollections reported are accurate.
Nonetheless, the findings largely align with research showing that childhood abuse or neglect can have lingering effects on a person’s health and well-being later in life.
“Informing parents, teachers, general practitioners and the general public of the possible destructive impact of child abuse on mental well-being and intimate relationships can lead to better recognition and earlier detection,” suggest authors.
The study was published in Child abuse and neglect.
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