Child abuse & neglect
-
Child abuse & neglect · Jan 2020
Linking childhood emotional abuse and adult depressive symptoms: The role of mentalizing incapacity.
Accumulated evidence suggests that childhood emotional abuse is particularly related to adulthood depression. However, this connection demands further explanation regarding potential intermediate factors. ⋯ This study provided preliminary evidence for hypermentalizing and hypomentalizing as mechanisms whereby early emotional abuse can lead to later depression. A normal to high level of mentalizing capacity might serve as a protective factor to suspend the pathway from childhood maltreatment to subsequent depression and become a promising target in psychological treatments. As cross-sectional data does not allow conclusions to be drawn on causal relationships, longitudinal data in a more representative sample is needed to capture relevant context and further examine our findings.