Combined effects of socio-economic status, social strain, and childhood maltreatment on comfortable interpersonal distance

Abstract Childhood maltreatment (CM) is thought to affect how individuals respond to social cues and interpersonal stimuli. Studies suggest that CM survivors prefer larger comfortable interpersonal distance (CID), but tend to exhibit low statistical power and focus on European populations, limiting generalisability to countries such as South Africa. This study sought to investigate the relationship between CM and CID in the South African context. 1048 South African adults completed measures assessing CID, CM, lifetime trauma exposure, PTSD, C-PTSD and depressive symptoms, social support, socio-economic status, and interpersonal stress. Mixed analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted to analyse data. Higher levels of physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional neglect were associated with larger CID. Findings suggest that lower levels of social strain and higher subjective socio-economic status may mitigate the negative impact of CM. Many participants answered in English regardless of home language, making comparisons between language groups impossible. Participants were not asked about ethnic group membership, limiting comparisons to other demographic variables. CM appears to play a significant role on CID preferences independent of the person involved. Social strain and subjective socio-economic status appear to be mitigating factors against the negative effects of CM. This finding is significant in the South African context, which is characterised by large wealth disparities and high levels of interpersonal violence.