Attachment as a Moderator in the Relation Between Child Maltreatment and Symptoms of Depression

• Published in: Journal of interpersonal violence 2022-02, Vol.37 (3-4), p.NP1516-NP1543
• Main Authors: Nowalis, Sarah, Godleski, Stephanie A., Schenkel, Lindsay S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse; Anxiety; Attachment; Attachment Behavior; Avoidance behavior; Caregivers; Child; Child Abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child, Preschool; Children; College students; Depression; Emotional regulation; Emotions; Female; Health research; Humans; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Object Attachment; Psychopathology; Risk factors; Symptoms; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0886-2605; 1552-6518
• DOI: 10.1177/0886260520933050

Experiencing child maltreatment is a risk factor for later psychopathology; however, not all survivors of child maltreatment go on to develop mental health diagnoses. There are likely important risk factors that act as moderators interacting with child maltreatment to contribute to the development of psychopathology. The present study examined the attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance as potential moderators in the association between child maltreatment and depressive symptomatology in a sample of college students. An attachment style high in anxiety or avoidance was expected to exacerbate the effect of child maltreatment on depressive symptomatology across both primary and secondary caregiver attachment relationships. This study was conducted at a private university in the northeastern United States in a sample of college students (N = 203; 52% male; Mage = 19.85, SDage = 2.19). Participants completed online measures of attachment, current mood symptoms, and demographic information. Two moderation models were tested, one for attachment to primary caregivers and one for attachment to secondary caregivers. Anxious attachment to primary caregivers moderated the relationship between child maltreatment and depressive symptoms (B = −0.16, p < .01, R2 =.44). However, moderation was not significant in the secondary caregiver attachment relationship. Maladaptive attachment styles, as well as child maltreatment itself, may result in disruptions in the development of positive internal working models of the self and others and adaptive emotion regulation. In cases of child maltreatment, interventions focused on the parent–child attachment relationship may have long-lasting effects and implications for the child’s future mental health. This research highlights important areas of intervention in cases of child maltreatment as well as important differences in the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment.