Childhood Emotional Abuse, Caregiver Attachments, & Self- Worth: Mechanisms in the Cycle of Violence

The cycle of violence hypothesis holds that experiencing abuse in childhood increases the risk of perpetrating or experiencing violence, particularly in young adulthood. Research sug- gests that childhood maltreatment can increase children’s risk for later violence, particularly in intimate relationships, by weakening their attachments to primary caregivers and lower- ing their sense of self-worth. Extant research has focused primarily on childhood physical abuse and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), leaving a gap in our understanding of if and how childhood emotional abuse (CEA) contributes to later violence. This study sought to fill that gap by evaluating if CEA predicted young adult IPV perpetration and vic- timization via compromised attachment to caregivers and self-worth. The current sample of 1,091 college students (Mage = 19.23, SD = 1.65; 68.4% female sex assigned at birth) was ethnically and racially diverse (i.e., 41.9% Asian, 26.5% Latine, 15.9% White, 5.9% Black, and 9.9% multiracial/other). Participants completed surveys in a research lab using a confidential online platform to assess their childhood maltreatment experiences, caregiver attachments, self-worth, and IPV perpetration and victimization. Multiple mediation analy- ses controlling for sex assigned at birth and childhood IPV exposure showed significant effects from CEA to IPV perpetration and victimization via decreased self-worth but not compromised attachment. Follow-up analyses by the sex assigned at birth showed an indi- rect pathway from CEA to IPV perpetration through compromised caregiver attachment for females. Consistent with prior data suggesting more substantial effects for females, CEA con- tributed to IPV victimization for females through decreased self-worth but not for males. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex-specific pathways from CEA to IPV. Our results also illuminate self-worth as a modifiable target of interventions to stem the cycle of violence and attachment security to prevent IPV perpetration among females.