Associations between emotional abuse and psychological symptomatology: A serial mediation model of parentification and early maladaptive schemas

Résumé fourni par la source

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional abuse and psychological symptom severity, through the mediating pathways of parentification and early maladaptive schemas (EMSs). The sample consisted of 240 young adults aged 18-30 years (M = 23.19), with 72.1% female, 25.8% male, and 2.1% not reporting their sex. Participants completed validated measures including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire for emotional abuse, the Parentification Inventory for parentification, the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form-3 for EMSs, and the Brief Symptom Inventory for psychological symptom severity. Cross-sectional serial mediation models were tested using the SPSS PROCESS macro with confidence intervals and 2,000 resamples. Results indicated that the serial indirect effects of emotional abuse on psychological symptom severity through parent-focused or sibling-focused parentification first and then disconnection/rejection or impaired limits-exaggerated standards were not significant. However, there was a significant indirect effect of emotional abuse on psychological symptom severity through perceived benefits of parentification followed by disconnection/ rejection. Understanding the mechanisms through which emotional abuse and parentification affect mental health is essential for developing therapeutic techniques and support systems that address both immediate and long-term psychological needs, thereby improving mental health outcomes. These findings may contribute to efforts aimed at helping parents create emotionally healthy environments and preventing children from being placed in adult roles (parentification), leading to more effective and lasting recovery for those affected by emotional abuse and parentification.

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