Psychological Mediators of the Association Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Depression: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: A number of existing meta-analyses and narrative reviews have already addressed the relation between childhood adversity and depression, yet none of them has examined the specific link between emotional abuse and depression highlighted by previous research. It is no longer appropriate to regard childhood maltreatment as a unitary concept when considering its effects on subsequent depression; instead, subtypes of childhood maltreatment need to be scrutinized separately. This review addresses this significant gap by critically evaluating empirical studies examining psychological mediators of the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and subsequent depression.Methods: A systematic search of nine electronic databases was conducted to identify eligible studies published in English between January 1980 and January 2020. Given the heterogeneous outcomes of eligible studies and the inconsistent reporting of indirect effects, a narrative synthesis, rather than a quantitative meta-analysis, was conducted. An appraisal of methodological quality was also included.Results: We identified 34 papers, comprising 18,529 adults and 3,434 adolescents, including 888 clinical participants. Our synthesis suggests that studies on mediators in the emotional abuse–depression link have focused on five clusters of intervening variables: early maladaptive schemas, cognitive-personality variables, emotion dysregulation, interpersonal styles, and stressful negative events. Only 11 studies identified the unique contribution of emotional abuse to depression by controlling for other forms of childhood maltreatment.Conclusions: Our findings support several routes with relative consistency (e.g., early maladaptive schemas, hopelessness, negative cognitive styles, brooding rumination, overall emotion dysregulation). Because psychological mediators function as a complex interrelated system, controlling for the interrelation between them is important. The evidence for the purported mediating role of the factors identified in this review should be considered with caution given the relative dearth of large-scale, adequately powered longitudinal studies. This review proposes a comprehensive multilevel theoretical framework as a basis for future research.

Immediate impact of child maltreatment on mental, developmental, and physical health trajectories

“…There are manifold explanations for the impact of maltreatment on adverse health outcomes, including theories rooted in cognitive psychology, learning theory, attachment theory, or evolutionary theory. For example, cognitive factors, such as negative inferential styles, low self‐esteem, and high impulsivity may contribute to symptoms after maltreatment (Li, Luyten, & Midgley, 2020; Weissman et al., 2019). Altered learning processes, such as potentiated fear conditioning or lack of extinction may contribute to symptoms after maltreatment (McLaughlin et al., 2016).…”

Dysfunctional Attitudes Mediate the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Neglect and Anhedonia in Young Adult Major Depression Patients

“…Our study suggested that dysfunctional attitudes mediated the impact of childhood traumas on anhedonia. A recent systematic review also showed that negative cognitive styles could be used as mediating factors in the association between children's emotional abuse and depression (52). The anhedoniacentered model of depressive vulnerability suggests that childhood decreases positive reinforcements and increases negative reinforcements lead to an individual's personality and cognition disorder (53).…”

Selective activation of ABCA1/ApoA1 signaling in the V1 by magnetoelectric stimulation ameliorates depression via regulation of synaptic plasticity

“…Furthermore, reductions in responses to a flashing checkerboard stimulus measured by fMRI have been found in the visual cortex of depressed patients compared to healthy participants ( Shaffer et al., 2018 ). Exposure to domestic violence during childhood is associated with reduced gray matter volume and thickness in the visual cortex of young adults ( Tomoda et al., 2012 ), and such childhood trauma is closely linked to the pathophysiology of depression ( Li et al., 2020 ). In addition, variation in the tumor necrosis factor-α ( TNF-α ) gene has been shown to selectively affect anatomy of the visual cortex in depressed subjects ( Zhou et al., 2018 ).…”