(PS10-4) Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment Subtypes, Biological Sex, and Emotion Reactivity Among Emerging Adults

Abstract Text: Abstract: Childhood maltreatment is associated with a wide range of psychological and socioemotional outcomes. However, continued research is needed to elucidate the complex interactions between biopsychosocial factors that help explain the diverse impacts of childhood maltreatment. One such factor that has received little attention is emotion reactivity (ER), or the degree to which an individual experiences emotion. This is a notable gap, as ER may contribute to emotion regulation difficulties and predict to use of negative coping strategies, such as non-suicidal self-injurious behavior and suicidal ideation. We investigated the links between specific types of childhood maltreatment (physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse) and ER and evaluated whether these effects were dependent on biological sex. The sample was comprised of 498 emerging adults attending a large university in the Midwestern United States (M = 18.95, SD = 1.22, 49.4% male). Results from cross-sectional path analyses indicated emotional neglect and emotional abuse were both positively associated with ER (βs=.10 and .11; ps= .04), while physical neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse were not (ps > .26). No other maltreatment subtypes were associated with higher emotion reactivity, and no moderating effects for biological sex were observed. Findings from this study indicate specific links between emotional maltreatment and ER, suggesting that emotional abuse and neglect are unique risk factors for increased ER among emerging adults. This may be important for the identification of and intervention with those at risk of maladaptive coping and psychopathology. Future longitudinal research is needed to determine whether ER mediates the relationship between emotional maltreatment and maladaptive coping in emerging adults.