Child Neglect and Internalizing Disorders: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation

Background and Purpose: Child neglect is associated with negative and long-term consequences in adolescence and adulthood such as internalizing disorders. Identifying the mechanism of the relationship between child neglect and internalizing disorders helps to identify the therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effect of emotion regulation in the relationship between child neglect and internalizing disorders like mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and somatoform disorders. Method: This study was correlational research. The sample of this study consisted of 200 high school female students in Tehran that were selected by multistage random cluster sampling. To collect data, self-reported child abuse, difficulties in emotion regulation scale and youth self-report scale, were used. Correlation and path analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that neglect of childhood indirectly and through emotional awareness can predict the symptoms of internalizing disorders in adolescent girls (P=0.001) Conclusion: In sum, results show that part of the common variance between the conceptual models of child neglect and internalizing disorders, is the result of the variability in emotional regulation.