Childhood emotional abuse, adult attachment, and depression as predictors of relational adjustment and psychological aggression

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 75-104

  Riggs, Shelley A ^a   Kaminski, Patricia ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS   (United States)

Author keywords

Adult attachment; Emotional abuse; Parent child attachment; Romantic relationship

Indexed keywords

ADJUSTMENT; ADULT; AGGRESSION; ARTICLE; CHILD ABUSE; COLLEGE STUDENT; DEPRESSION; DISTRESS SYNDROME; EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; VICTIM;

EID: 77649313916     PISSN: 10926771     EISSN: 1545083X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10926770903475976     Document Type: Article

References (112)

1. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2. Allen, J. A. (2001). Traumatic relationships and serious mental disorders. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
3. Arias, I., & Pape, K. (1999). Psychological abuse: Implications for adjustment and commitment to leave violent partners. Violence and Victims, 14(1), 55-67.
4. Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226-244.
5. Bemporad, J. R., & Romano, S. J. (1992). Childhood maltreatment and adult depression: A review of research. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol.4. Developmental perspectives on depression (pp. 351-375). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
6. Bernstein, D. P. (2002). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders in patients with histories of emotional abuse or neglect. Psychiatric Annals, 32, 618-628.
7. Bernstein, D., & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
8. Berzenski, S. R., & Yates, T. M. (in press). A developmental process analysis of the contribution of childhood emotional abuse to relationship violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma.
9. Blatt, S. J., & Levy, K. N. (2003). Attachment theory, psychoanalysis, personality development and psychopathology. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 23, 102-150.
10. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol.1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books
11. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol.2. Separation. New York: Basic Books.
12. Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss: Vol.3. Loss. New York: Basic Books.
13. Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford.
14. Brennan, K. A., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Attachment styles and personality disorders: Their connections to each other and to parental divorce, parental death, and perceptions of parental caregiving. Journal of Personality, 66, 835-878.
15. Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1988). Multivariate correlates of childhood psychological and physical maltreatment among university women. Child Abuse & Neglect, 12, 331-341.
16. Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1990). Differential adult symptomatology associated with three types of child abuse histories. Child Abuse & Neglect, 14, 257-364.
17. Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978). Social origins of depression: A study of psychiatric disorders in women. New York: Free Press.
18. Carbone, D. J. (2010). Using cognitive therapies to treat unstable attachment patterns in adults with childhood histories of social rejection. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 19(1), 105-134.
19. Carlson, E. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (1995). Contributions of attachment theory to developmental psychopathology. In E. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (Vol. 1, pp. 581-617). New York: Wiley.
20. Carnelley, K., Peitromonaco, P., & Jaffe, K. (1994). Depression, working models of others, and relationship functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 127-140.
21. Caspi, A., & Elder, G. H. (1988). Developmental history, personality, and family relationships: Toward an emergent family system. In R. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 218-240). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
22. Christian, J. L., O'Leary, K. D., & Vivian, D. (1994). Depressive symptomatology in maritally discordant women and men: The role of individual and relationship variables. Journal of Family Psychology, 8, 32-42.
23. Cicchetti, D., & Rizley, R. (1981). Developmental perspectives on the etiology, intergenerational transmission, and sequelae of child maltreatment. New Directions for Child Development, 111, 35-55.
24. Clemmons, J. (2005). Multiple forms of child maltreatment and abuse-specific characteristics: Relationships to adult adjustment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.
25. Cohn, D. A., Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., & Pearson, J. (1992). Mothers' and fathers' working models of childhood attachment relationships, parenting styles, and child behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 417-431.
26. Cole-Detke, H., & Kobak, R. (1996). Attachment processes in eating disorder and depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 282-290.
27. Collins, N., & Read, S. (1990). Adult attachment relationships, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644-683.
28. Collins, W. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (1999). Capacity for intimate relationships: A developmental construction. In W. Furman, B. B. Brown, & C. Feiring (Eds.), The development of romantic relationships in adolescence (pp. 125-147). New York: Cambridge University Press.
29. Crawford, E., & Wright, M. O. (2007). The impact of childhood psychological maltreatment on interpersonal schemas and subsequent experiences of relationship aggression. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7, 93-116.
30. Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 434-465). New York: Guilford.
31. Davis, J. L., Petretic-Jackson, P. A., & Ting, L. (2001). Intimacy dysfunction and trauma symptomatology: Long-term correlates of different types of child abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 63-79. (Pubitemid 33635787)
32. Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., & Covi, L. (1973). SCL-90: An outpatient psychiatric rating scale-preliminary report. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9, 13-27.
33. DeWolff, M. S., & van IJzendoorn, M. (1997). Sensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. Child Development, 68, 571-591.
34. Diehl, M., Elnick, A., Bourbeau, L., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (1998). Adult attachment styles: Their relations to family context and personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1656-1669.
35. DiLillo, D. (2001). Interpersonal functioning among women reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse: Empirical findings and methodological issues. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 553-576.
36. DiLillo, D., Lewis, T., & Di Loreto-Colgan, A. (2007). Child maltreatment history and subsequent romantic relationships: Exploring a psychological route to dyadic difficulties. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 15, 19-36.
37. Dodge Reyome, N. (in press). Childhood emotional maltreatment and later intimate relationships: Themes from the empirical literature. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma.
38. Dodge Reyome, N., Ward, K. S., & Witkiewitz, K. (in press). Psychosocial variables as mediators of the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment, codependency, and self silencing. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma.
39. Dozier, M., Stovall, C., & Albus, K. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in adulthood. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 497-519). New York: Guilford.
40. Dutton, D. G., Saunders, K., Starzomski, A., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). Intimacyanger and insecure attachment as precursors of abuse in intimate relationships. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 1367-1386.
41. Eiden, R. D., Teti, D. M., & Corns, K. M. (1995). Maternal working models of attachment, marital adjustment, and the parent-child relationship. Child Development, 66, 1504-1518.
42. Eng, W., Heimberg, R. G., Hart, T. A., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2001). Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: The relationship among adult attachment styles, social anxiety, and depression. Emotion, 1, 365-380.
43. Feeney, J. A., & Noller, P. (1990). Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 281-291.
44. Feldbau-Kohn, S., Heyman, R. E., & O'Leary, K. (1998). Major depressive disorder and depressive symptomatology as predictors of husband to wife physical aggression. Violence and Victims, 13, 347-360.
45. Florian, V., Mikulincer, M., & Burcholtz, I. (1995). Effects of adult attachment style on the perception and search for social support. Journal of Psychology, 129, 665-676.
46. Follingstad, D. R., Rutledge, L., Berg, B. J., Hause, E. S., & Polek, D. S. (1990). The role of emotional abuse in physically abusive relationships. Journal of Family Violence, 5, 107-120.
47. Foran, H., & O'Leary, K. (2008). Alcohol and intimate partner violence: A metaanalytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1222-1234.
48. Garbarino, J., Guttman, E., & Seely, J. W. (1986). The psychologically battered child: Strategies for identification, assessment, and intervention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
49. Garmezy, N. (1987). Stress, competence, and development: Continuities in the study of schizophrenic adults, children vulnerable to psychopathology, and the search for stress-resistant children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 159-174.
50. Gauthier, L., Stollak, G., Messe, L., & Aronoff, J. (1996). Recall of childhood neglect and physical abuse as differential predictors of current psychological functioning. Child Abuse & Neglect, 21, 549-559.
51. Gilbert, L., El-Bassel, N., Schilling, R. F., & Friedman, E. (1997). Childhood abuse as a risk for partner abuse among women in methadone maintenance. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 23, 581-595.
52. Greenberg, M. T. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in childhood. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 469-496). New York: Guilford.
53. Gross, A. B., & Keller, H. R. (1992). Long-term consequences of childhood physical and psychological maltreatment. Aggressive Behavior, 18, 171-185.
54. Hart, S. N., Brassard, M. R., Binggeli, N. J., & Davidson, H. A. (2002). Psychological maltreatment. In J. E. B. Myers, L. Berliner, J. Briere, C. T. Hendrix, C. Jenny, et al. (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (2nd ed., pp. 79- 103). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
55. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
56. Kaufman, J. (1991). Depressive disorders in maltreated children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 257-265.
57. Koh, K. B., Kim, C. H., & Park, J. K. (2002). Predominance of anger in depressive disorders compared with anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 63, 486-492.
58. Lopez, F., Melendez, M., Sauer, E., Berger, E., & Wyssmann, J. (1998). IWMs, selfreported problems, and help-seeking attitudes among college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45, 79-83.
59. Losel, F., & Bliesener, T. (1994). Some high-risk adolescents do not develop conduct problems: A study of protective factors. International Journal of Behavior Development, 17, 753-777.
60. Lyons-Ruth, K., & Block, D. (1996). The disturbed caregiving system: Relations among childhood trauma, maternal caregiving, and infant affect and attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 17, 257-275.
61. Lyons-Ruth, K., Melnick, S., Bronfman, E., Sherry, S., & Llanas, L. (2004). Hostilehelpless relational models and disorganized attachment patterns between parents and their young children: Review of research and implications for clinical work. In L. Atkinson & S. Goldberg (Eds.), Attachment issues in psychopathology and intervention (pp. 65-94). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
62. Lyons-Ruth, K., Repacholi, B., McLeod, S., & Silva, E. (1991). Disorganized attachment behavior in infancy: Short-term stability, maternal and infant correlates, and risk-related subtypes. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 377-396.
63. Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 161-182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
64. Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research (pp. 66-104). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1-2, Serial No. 209).
65. Masten, A. S., Morison, P., Pellegrini, D., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Competence under stress: Risk and protective factors. In J. Rolf, J. Matsen, J. Cicchetti, K. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 236-256). New York: Cambridge University Press.
66. McCloskey, L. A. (2001). The Medea complex among men: The instrumental abuse of children to injure wives. Violence and Victims, 16, 1-19.
67. McGee, R. A., & Wolfe, D. A. (1991). Psychological maltreatment: Toward an operational definition. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 3-18.
68. Messman-Moore, T. L., & Coates, A. A. (2007). The impact of childhood psychological abuse on adult interpersonal conflict: The role of early maladaptive schemas and patterns of interpersonal behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7, 75-92.
69. Mickelson, K., Kessler, R., & Shaver, P. (1997). Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1092-1106.
70. Mikulincer, M., & Florian, V. (1998). The relationship between adult attachment styles and emotional and cognitive reactions to stressful events. In J. A. Simpson & W. J. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 143-165). New York: Guilford.
71. Morimoto, Y., & Sharma, A. (2004). Long-term outcomes of verbal aggression: The role of protective factors. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 4, 71-99.
72. Navarre, E. L. (1987). Psychological maltreatment: The core component of child abuse. In M. R. Brassard, R. Germain, & S. N. Hart (Eds.), Psychological maltreatment of children and youth (pp. 45-56). New York: Pergamon.
73. Ney, P. G. (1987). Does verbal abuse leave deeper scars: A study of children and parents. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 32, 371-378.
74. Ney, P. G., Fung, T., & Wickett, A. R. (1994). The worst combinations of child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 705-714.
75. Nicholas, K. B., & Bieber, S. L. (1996). Parental abusive versus supportive behaviors and their relation to hostility and aggression in young adults. Child Abuse & Neglect, 20, 1195-1211.
76. Onishi, M., Gjerde, P. F., & Block, J. (2001). Personality implications of romantic attachment patterns in young adults: A multi-method, multi-informant study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1097-1110.
77. Paley, B., Cox, M. J., Burchinal, M. R., & Payne, C. C. (1999). Attachment and marital functioning: Comparison of spouses with continuous-secure, earned-secure, dismissing, and preoccupied attachment stances. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 580-597.
78. Pan, H., Neidig, P., & O'Leary, D. (1994). Predicting mild to severe husband to wife physical aggression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 975-981.
79. Paradis, A., & Boucher, S. (in press). Child maltreatment history and interpersonal problems in adult couple relationships. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma.
80. Parker, G. (1983). Parental overprotection: A risk factor in psychosocial development. New York: Grune & Stratton.
81. Parker, G. (2008). The Parental Bonding Instrument: An annotated bibliography. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.blackdoginstitute.org. au/ research/tools/index.cfm#PBI
82. Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1-10.
83. Rholes, W. S., & Simpson, J. A. (2004). Ambivalent attachment and depressive symptoms: The role of romantic and parent-child relationships. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 18, 67-78.
84. Riggs, S. A. (2010). Childhood emotional abuse and the attachment system across the life cycle: What theory and research tell us. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 19(1), 5-51.
85. Riggs, S. A., & Jacobvitz, D. (2002). Expectant parents' representations of early attachment relationships: Associations with mental health and family history. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 195-204.
86. Riggs, S. A., Jacobvitz, D., & Hazen, N. (2002). Adult attachment and history of psychotherapy in a normative sample. Psychotherapy, 39, 344-353.
87. Rosen, L. N., & Martin, L. (1996). Impact of childhood abuse history on psychological symptoms among male and female soldiers in the U.S. Army. Child Abuse & Neglect, 20, 1149-1160. (Pubitemid 26399364)
88. Rosenstein, D. H., & Horowitz, H. A. (1996). Adolescent attachment and psychopathology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 244-253.
89. Rothbard, J. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1994). Continuity of attachment across the life span. In M. B. Sperling & W. H. Berman (Eds.), Attachment in adults: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 31-71). New York: Guilford.
90. Sackett, L. A., & Saunders, D. G. (1999). The impact of different forms of psychological abuse on battered women. Violence and Victims, 14, 105-117.
91. Scher, C. D., Forde, D. R., McQuaid, J. R., & Stein, M. B. (2004). Prevalence and demographic correlates of childhood maltreatment in an adult community sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 167-180.
92. Schmaling, K. B., & Jacobson, N. S. (1990). Marital interaction and depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 229-236.
93. Senchak, M., & Leonard, K. E. (1992). Attachment styles and marital adjustment among newlywed couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9, 51-64.
94. Shaver, P., Schachner, D., & Mikulincer, M. (2005). Attachment style, excessive reassurance seeking, relationship processes, and depression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 343-359.
95. Simpson, J. A., & Rholes, W. S. (2002). Fearful-avoidance, disorganization, and multiple working models: Some directions for future theory and research. Attachment and Human Development, 4, 223-229.
96. Simpson, J. A., Rholes, W. S., Orina, M., & Grich, J. (2002). Working models of attachment, support giving, and support seeking in a stressful situation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 598-608.
97. Simpson, J. A., Rholes, W. S., & Phillips, D. (1996). Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 899-914.
98. Solomon, C. R., & Serres, F. (1999). Effects of parental verbal aggression on children's self-esteem and school marks. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23, 339-351.
99. Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15-28.
100. Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L, Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development & preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.
101. Straus, M. A. (2004). Cross-cultural reliability and validity of the Revised Conflict Tactic Scales: A study of university study dating couples in 17 nations. Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science, 38(4), 407-432.
102. Stuewig, J., & McCloskey, L. A. (2005). The relation of child maltreatment to shame and guilt among adolescents: Psychological routes to depression and delinquency. Child Maltreatment, 10, 324-336.
103. Thompson, R. A. (1991). Attachment theory and research. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Child and adolescent psychiatry: A comprehensive textbook (pp. 100-108). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
104. Tutty, L. M. (1999). Considering emotional abuse in the link between spouse and child abuse: A review and exploratory study. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 1(4), 53-79.
105. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2007). Definitions of child abuse and neglect: State statutes series. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http:// www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/define.cfm
106. Vega, E. M., & O'Leary, K. D. (2007). Test-retest reliability of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). Journal of Family Violence, 22, 703-708.
107. Wekerle, C., & Wolfe, D. A. (1998). The role of child maltreatment and attachment style in adolescent relationship violence. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 571-586.
108. Whitfield, C. L., Anda, R. F., Dube, S. R., & Felitti, V. J. (2003). Violent childhood experiences and the risk of intimate partner violence in adults: Assessment in a large health maintenance organization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18, 166-185.
109. Williams, N. L., & Riskind, J. H. (2004). Adult romantic attachment and cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety and depression: Examining the interpersonal basis of vulnerability models. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 18, 7-24.
110. Wind, T. W., & Silvern, L. (1994). Parenting and family stress as mediators of the long-term effects of child abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 439-453.
111. Wright, M. O. (2007). The long-term impact of emotional abuse in childhood: Identifying mediating and moderating processes. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7, 1-8.
112. Zurbriggen, E. L., Gobin, R., & Freyd, J. J. (in press). Childhood emotional abuse and late adolescent sexual aggression perpetration and victimization. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma.