Childhood neglect experiences and well-being in young adulthood

The general aim of the present dissertation was to investigate the association between childhood neglect experiences and psychological well-being in young adults using an “individual by context” framework (Cicchetti, 1993; Rutter, 2014; Sameroff, 2014), understanding the individual and contextual characteristics that amplify or attenuate the response to childhood neglect experiences and contribute to young adulthood well-being. There is consistent evidence for consequences of the childhood maltreatment and neglect in terms of psychopathology (Comacchio et al., 2019; Vonderlin et al., 2018), but there is more to learn about how this form of early adversity affects later psychological health and well-being (Greenfield & Marks, 2010; Kia-Keating et al., 2011). A growing body of research indicates variability in psychological functioning following trauma, with some individuals exhibiting substantial psychopathology (Humphreys et al., 2020) and displaying a particularly low level of quality of life (Weber et al., 2016), and others appearing relatively unaffected (e.g., Cicchetti, 2010; McNally, 2003), nor necessarily developing psychiatric disorders. Therefore, studying the association between childhood neglect experiences and adult psychological well-being is important to analyse the processes of adaptation and to guide the development of treatment and prevention programs (Guterman, 2004; Herrenkohl, 2011; Klika & Herrenkohl, 2013). In particular, the dissertation attempts to understand the interplay between specific dimensions of childhood emotional neglect (e.g., severity), individual characteristics (e.g., emotional characteristics and environmental sensitivity trait), and contextual environments (e.g., family, community and friends as supportive and enriching context factors) in order to understand pathways of adults’ adaptation and psychological well-being after neglectful experiences during childhood. Overall, the thesis is composed by four studies which covering the following main issues: 1) the multi-dimensional measurement of the childhood maltreatment construct; 2) the magnitude of the association between childhood neglect forms and well-being in adulthood; 3) the mediational role of emotional mechanisms involved in the association between childhood emotional neglect severity and psychological well-being; 4) the moderation role of the individual trait of sensory processing sensitivity and contextual resilience factors in the association between childhood emotional neglect and adults’ psychological well-being. In particular, the First Chapter focused on the psychometric definition of the childhood maltreatment construct. The study has the general aim of analyzing the psychometric properties of the revised version of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire including the Witnessed Family Violence construct in a sample of 733 Italian university students (86,2% females) (M age=19,75; SD=1,76). We have identified the second-order structure as the most appropriate model to define the factorial structure of the revised CTQ scale in the Italian context. The high-ordered construct of childhood maltreatment resulted defined by the 6 specific forms that are: witnessed family violence, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect. In the second, third and fourth chapters we decided to focus our attention on childhood neglect, which is the forms of childhood maltreatment with the highest prevalence (Clément et al., 2016; Stoltenborgh et al., 2013; Vanderminden et al., 2019). Although childhood neglect is the most prevalent form and involves also, but not only, chronic and severe situations, remains the form of childhood maltreatment that has received the least attention among researchers (Mennen et al., 2010; Stoltenborgh et al., 2013). This is because, over the years, empirical studies on the topic have focused much more attention on the more direct forms of sexual and physical abuse. In particular, in the Second Chapter we presented a systematic review and meta-analysis about the association between childhood neglect experiences and well-being in adolescence and adulthood, evaluating how this can vary according to the forms emotional, physical, and in relation to the age of participants. The current study was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & PRISMA Group, 2009) across five databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, ERIC), from 1930 to October 2021. Starting from 5116 articles, we excluded duplicates from subsequent searches and settled on 2286 articles. By reviewing the titles and abstracts, and following exclusion criteria, we omitted another 2158 articles. The full text articles assessed for eligibility were 128. 106 articles were further excluded according to exclusion criteria. Finally, 27 effects were included in the meta-analysis, resulting from 16 articles. The meta-analysis showed a negative medium effect size d = - 0.51, (95% CI [- 0.62, - 0.41]), p < .001 meaning that the more a person suffered of neglect the less he/she perceived well-being. Findings revealed the moderator role of age (QM = 18.84, p < 0.001), showing that young adults report stronger effect size (d = - 0.69, p < 0.001) as compared to studies with adults (d = -0.34, p < 0.001). Besides, results showed that emotional neglect seems to have a higher impact on well-being (d = - 0.6, p < 0.05) than physical (d = - 0.51, p = 0.1) or childhood neglect (d = - 0.35, p < 0.01). In the Third Chapter we presented a mediational study. Starting from the findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis, we decided to focus on the emotional neglect form, in order to better understand the processes involved in the association between emotional neglect and psychological well-being. In particular, the study analysed the role of individual differences in the use of emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between emotional neglect and relational well-being, considering the severity level of these traumatic childhood experiences. We think crucial considering neglect severity rather than simply dichotomizing samples into neglected and non-neglected when examining the impact of these experiences on development, health and well-being. This because the processes involved for those who have experienced neglect at a severe level are different from those who have experienced low levels of such experiences. Furthermore, the current study was aimed to understand whether the results are uniquely associated with emotional neglect experiences, controlling for multi-type maltreatment experiences. Participants were 375 Italian university students (84% females) (age: M=19.87; SD=1.92). Findings underlined that reduced self-awareness and lack of emotional confidence are the core mechanisms of emotion regulation that specifically mediate the relationship between childhood emotional neglect experiences and low levels of relational well-being in young adulthood. However, they act differently with respect to the levels of severity of such experiences. Emotional confidence is the most compromised mechanism among those who have experienced low levels of emotional neglect and emotional awareness is the most compromised mechanism among those who have experienced more severe levels of these traumatic experiences. In the Fourth chapter we presented a moderation study. Specifically, the study aims to investigate the moderating role of environmental sensitivity and contextual resilience in the association between childhood emotional neglect and psychological well-being in 737 university students (M=19.81; SD=1.91, 87% female). Results provided support for a three-way interaction model, with environmental sensitivity and contextual resilience moderating the impact of childhood emotional neglect on relational well-being in young adulthood (B = .37, SE = .11, p< .001). Among those who experienced severe levels of childhood emotional neglect, young adults high in environmental sensitivity were more susceptible to the positive impact of supportive contexts, presenting higher levels of relational well-being compared to those low in environmental sensitivity. In the Final chapter we discuss about the main results, strengths and limits of the four studies and we will discuss implications and future directions.