The Impact of Childhood Psychological Maltreatment on Interpersonal Schemas and Subsequent Experiences of Relationship Aggression

Childhood Psychological Maltreatment and Perception of Self, Others, and Relationships: A Phenomenological Exploration

“…Several terms have been employed to describe the topic under investigation, including emotional abuse and emotional neglect (Brock, Pearlman, & Varra, 2006;Spertus, Yehuda, Wong, Halligan, & Seremetis, 2003), psychological maltreatment (Crawford & Wright, 2007;DeRobertis, 2004), verbal aggression (Vissing, Straus, Gelles, & Harrop, 1991), psychological abuse (Ferguson & Dacey, 1997), and emotional maltreatment (Wright et al, 2009). Psychological maltreatment and emotional abuse appear to be the most commonly used terms.…”

“…Psychological maltreatment has been demonstrated to be the strongest predictor of anxiety (Higgins & McCabe, 2003;Martsolf et al, 2004;Spertus et al, 2003), depression (Higgins & McCabe, 2003;Martsolf et al, 2004;Spertus et al, 2003), negative health outcomes (e.g., bodily pain, physical functioning impairment), and perpetration and victimisation of adult interpersonal aggression (Crawford & Wright, 2007), after controlling for other forms of childhood maltreatment.…”

“…Researchers and clinicians working with individuals with a history of complex trauma, including psychological maltreatment, assert that current diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic impulses (e.g., suicidal ideation) (Gibb et al, 2001), alterations in attention or consciousness (e.g., episodes of dissociation) (Ferguson & Dacey, 1997;Wright et al, 2009), somatization (e.g., physical pain) (Spertus et al, 2003), alterations in self-perception (e.g., defectiveness/shame) (Wright et al, 2009), alterations in relations with others (e.g., mistrust) (Crawford & Wright, 2007), and alterations in systems of meaning (e.g., hopelessness) (Gibb et al 2001). This compilation of studies provides support for the idea that psychological maltreatment is associated with the significant, pervasive, and detrimental complex outcomes captured under Herman's diagnostic construct of CPTSD.…”

“…The incorporated damaging messages from parents into the child's evaluation of his or her worth as a person (Harter, 1999) can directly contribute to global, stable, internal, negative self-attributions (Crawford & Wright, 2007). Such attributions can convey the message that the child is not living up to expectations, that the child's core self falls short of certain standards, is a disappointment to the parent, and is therefore not worthy of love (Feiring, 2005).…”

“…Krause, Mendelson, and Lynch (2003) found that a history of childhood emotional invalidation was strongly related to adult chronic emotional inhibition. Crawford and Wright (2007) found that psychological maltreatment predicted emotional inhibition. A stable, global sense of shame has also been associated with emotional inhibition (Harper et al, 2005).…”