Emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and symptoms of social anxiety among college students

Abstract

Objective

The current study explored emotion regulation strategies (ie, suppression, cognitive reappraisal, experiential avoidance) as mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and social anxiety.

Participants

One hundred and ninety-three undergraduate students (M_age = 19.5 years; 83.9% female) were recruited from a public university in the northeastern United States.

Methods

Participants completed measures assessing childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation strategies, and social anxiety.

Results

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediation paths. Childhood maltreatment was negatively associated with cognitive reappraisal and experiential avoidance, and positively associated with suppression. Higher suppression was associated with higher social anxiety, and higher experiential avoidance was associated with lower social anxiety. The association between childhood maltreatment and symptoms of social anxiety was mediated by suppression and experiential avoidance, but not cognitive reappraisal. All other paths were nonsignificant.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that treatments for childhood maltreatment should aim to bolster experiential avoidance and minimize suppression to address social anxiety symptoms.

Keywords:

• Childhood maltreatment
• social anxiety
• emotion regulation
• college students

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from The University of Rhode Island Institutional Review Board.

Additional information

Funding

The authors report there is no funding or grant-award funding for this work.