From childhood maltreatment to depression and anxiety: a network approach focusing on perceived emotional invalidation

The present study investigated the mechanisms linking childhood maltreatment to symptoms of depression and anxiety in adulthood, with a focus on proximal psychosocial factors, including emotion dysregulation, self-compassion, self-coldness, and perceived emotional invalidation. A total of 1,242 university students in South Korea (Mage = 24.43, SDage = 4.74; range = 18–54 years; 59.7% females) participated in an online survey assessing five categories of childhood maltreatment: emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and emotional and physical neglect. In addition, all participants completed assessments for depression, anxiety, perceived invalidation of emotion, difficulties in emotion regulation, self-compassion, and self-coldness. A network analysis was employed using a mixed graphical model to account for both categorical and continuous variables. Our network analysis revealed significant indirect associations between emotional neglect, physical neglect, and sexual abuse and the symptoms of depression and anxiety. These associations were primarily bridged by perceived emotional invalidation, which emerged as the most influential bridge node within the network. Additional links were observed through specific facets of emotion dysregulation (i.e., limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies and reduced emotional clarity) and self-coldness (i.e., feelings of isolation). These findings underscore the central role of proximal psychosocial factors in shaping psychological outcomes of childhood maltreatment and highlight the potential utility of interventions targeting emotional invalidation, emotion regulation difficulties, and maladaptive self-attitudes in mitigating long-term mental health consequences.