Interpersonal Sensitivity Mediates the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on the Evaluation of Life Events and Anxiety States in Adult Community Volunteers

Abstract

Background Childhood maltreatment has long-lasting psychological effects, which often manifest in adulthood. Previous studies have suggested that the effects of childhood maltreatment are not only direct but also indirect, being mediated by other factors. In this study, we hypothesized that the effects of childhood maltreatment on state anxiety in adulthood are mediated by interpersonal sensitivity and the evaluation of life events, and investigated this possibility by covariance structure analysis. Subjects and Methods Self-administered questionnaires (Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y, Life Experiences Survey, and Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure) were distributed to adult community volunteers in Japan, and 404 eligible responses were collected. A structural equation model was constructed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of childhood maltreatment on state anxiety, with interpersonal sensitivity and the evaluation of life events as potential mediators. Results Our model showed that childhood maltreatment increases state anxiety in adulthood both directly and indirectly via interpersonal sensitivity. In addition, interpersonal sensitivity mediated the effects of childhood maltreatment on the negative evaluation of life events, and the negative evaluation of life events mediated the effects of interpersonal sensitivity on anxiety symptoms. Limitations There may be possible recall bias owing to the self-administration of the questionnaire. In addition, this study had a cross-sectional design, and hence the results should be validated by a prospective study. Conclusion The effects of childhood maltreatment on the state anxiety of adult volunteers are not only direct but are also mediated by interpersonal sensitivity. Our results suggest that assessing interpersonal sensitivity may help to determine optimal treatments for patients with anxiety who experienced maltreatment in childhood.

Interpersonal sensitivity mediates the effects of perceived parenting styles on state anxiety and negative assessment of life events in adult volunteers from the community

“…Harb et al 22 reported that a group of patients with social anxiety disorder had higher IPS than controls. The association between IPS and anxiety disorders has also been reported by Wilhelm et al 23 We previously reported that IPS had a direct positive effect on state anxiety 20 . Furthermore, we found that the impact of IPS on state anxiety was mediated by evaluating life events negatively 20 …”

“…Regarding childhood maltreatment, which occurs in similar contexts as negative parenting styles, our previous studies by Otsuka et al 51 and Nakazawa et al 20 reported that the impacts of childhood maltreatment enhance IPS. These studies also enabled us to predict the results of this study to some extent.…”

“…Our previous study using the same subjects as this study already showed that IPS enhances the negative assessment of life events and has an indirect effect on state anxiety through the negative assessment of life events. 20 life events. For example, Yasuda et al 25 performed correlation analysis and reported a positive correlation between neuroticism measured by the Neo Five Factor Inventory and negative change scores in life events measured by the LES.…”

“…Although there have only been a few studies to date, interpersonal relationships have also been reported to be associated with the subjective evaluation of life experiences 38 . In addition, our previous study showed that IPS was positively correlated with the negative evaluation of life events 20 …”

“…38 In addition, our previous study showed that IPS was positively correlated with the negative evaluation of life events. 20 The objective of this study was to clarify the association between the parenting style experienced in childhood and anxiety symptoms in adulthood. We hypothesized that IPS mediates the long-term impacts of perceived parenting styles on adult state anxiety and the negative assessment of life events.…”