Childhood Emotional Abuse and PTSD Symptom Severity: The Mediating Role of Attachment Anxiety

Haan, Marjolein, de (2026) Childhood Emotional Abuse and PTSD Symptom Severity: The Mediating Role of Attachment Anxiety. Master thesis, Psychology.

Text MasterThesisMarjoleindeHaans5207460.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (594kB)

Abstract

Childhood emotional abuse (EA) is highly prevalent and strongly associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, despite not meeting DSM-5 Criterion A for PTSD. The mechanisms underlying this association remain underexplored. This study examined to what extent attachment anxiety mediates the association between EA and PTSD symptom severity. Participants were 417 first-year female psychology students (age 17–53, M = 20.07, SD = 3.18) from universities in the Netherlands and New Zealand. Of the participants, 20.6% scored above the moderate-to-severe cutoff for EA and 22.6% met the cutoff for probable PTSD. EA was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form (CTQ-SF), attachment anxiety with the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised (ECR-R), and PTSD symptoms with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). EA was small-to-moderately associated with attachment anxiety and showed a large association with PTSD symptom severity. Attachment anxiety was also small-to-moderately related to PTSD symptoms and partially mediated the association between EA and PTSD symptom severity, with a small indirect effect. These findings highlight the clinical relevance of EA and suggest that attachment-related processes may be important for understanding PTSD symptom severity in individuals with histories of EA. Future longitudinal research is needed to clarify the temporal ordering of EA, attachment anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Keywords: attachment anxiety, childhood emotional abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Daniels, J.K.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2026 07:06
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2026 07:06
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6296

Actions (login required)

View Item