Cumulative maltreatment or exposure to multiple types of child abuse or neglect increases the risk of perpetrating and sustaining intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood and is associated with deficits in emotion regulation, which are considered as robust determinants of psychological IPV. Yet, no research has evaluated this relationship by distinguishing the cognitive and behavioral components of emotion dysregulation. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine the mediating role of cognitive and behavioral emotion dysregulation in the relationship uniting cumulative childhood maltreatment and psychological IPV. A total of 162 adults consulting in sexology completed self-report questionnaires assessing their experiences of cumulative trauma, emotion dysregulation, and psychological IPV. The majority (86%) of participants experienced more than one type of childhood maltreatment, whereas half of them reported having perpetrated (51%) and sustained (54%) psychological IPV. Path analyses confirmed the mediational role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between cumulative maltreatment experiences and psychological IPV. The hypothesized model was also invariant across gender. Results highlight the necessity to assess child maltreatment and IPV experiences thoroughly in individuals consulting for sexual or relational problems.
The mediating role of emotion dysregulation and depression on the relationship between childhood trauma exposure and emotional eating
