Examination of the indirect effect of childhood emotional trauma on internalizing symptoms through distress intolerance

Abstract

Objectives

Extant studies document a prospective link between early childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known regarding specific cognitive-affective mechanisms. The current study sought to examine distress intolerance (DI) as a mechanism that may explain the relation between early childhood emotional abuse and internalizing symptoms.

Participants and methods

Participants (N = 230; 54.3% women; mean age = 19.72, SD = 2.28) completed multiple self-report indices of early childhood emotional abuse, DI, and internalizing symptom indices. Using structural equation modeling, a series of mediation models was run to examine the indirect effect of childhood emotional abuse on latent and specific internalizing symptom indices through a latent index of subjective DI.

Results

Childhood emotional abuse was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms through DI (effect size range = .083–.227, medium to large).

Conclusions

The results provide preliminary evidence for DI as a mechanism of interest in the relation between early childhood emotional abuse and internalizing symptoms.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• childhood emotional trauma
• depression
• distress intolerance

Notes

1 ⁾ Previous studies examining affective distress have also reported similar findings that the DIS is not strongly correlated with other indices of DI.^33,47