The Impact of Childhood Experiences on Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Functioning: Does the Past Dictate the Future?

Childhood experiences of maltreatment are related to interpersonal difficulties in childhood (Pettit, Dodge, & Brown, 1988) and adulthood (Messman-Moore & Coates, 2007; Varia & Abidin, 1999; Busby, Walker, & Holman, 2011). However, most studies have examined the effects of maltreatment on interpersonal functioning (Messman-Moore & Coates, 2007; Busby, Walker, & Holman, 2011) within the context of romantic relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Feeney & Noller, 1990). Thus, the present study examined the impact childhood maltreatment and neglect has on later intrapersonal functioning and interpersonal interactions and whether gender differences emerge therein. Results indicated maltreated individuals initiate relationships less often and assert lower levels of autonomy within those relationships. Further, men with a history of maltreatment reported lower levels of emotional support, suggesting gender may moderate the relationship between experiences of maltreatment and interpersonal outcomes. Finally, individuals with a history of maltreatment reported lower levels of self-esteem than their non-maltreated counterparts. MALTREATMENT, ATTACHMENT, AND RELATIONSHIPS 3 The Impact of Childhood Experiences on Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Functioning: Does the Past Dictate the Future? Introduction Childhood experiences, both positive and negative, can influence an individual’s life in many ways, in the short and long term. These “childhood experiences” may include an instance or instances of maltreatment including physical abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect. Definitions of these categories of maltreatment have varied throughout the literature. Friedman, Sandler, Hernandez, and Wolfe (1981; as cited in Kelly, 1983) describe child abuse as involving acts of commission by the parent that are characterized by overt physical violence, beatings, or excessive punishments that are typically accompanied by frustration or anger that is directed towards the child. Child neglect is described as involving maltreatment that is due to acts of omission in that the parent fails to meet a child’s physical, nutritional, medical, or emotional needs (Friedman, et al., 1981; as cited in Kelly, 1983). Schecter and Roberge (1976; as cited in Kelly, 1983) define child sexual abuse as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not comprehend. Glaser (2002) describes emotional abuse and neglect as a relationship between a parent and child in which interactions of concern or potential harm to the child pervade the relationship. While emotional abuse and neglect require no physical contact to be considered a type of abuse, they could potentially cause impairment to a child’s psychological and emotional health and development. Glaser (1993, as cited in Glaser, 2000) lists the following categories of emotional abuse and neglect: emotional unavailability, unresponsiveness and neglect; negative attributions and misattributions to a child; developmentally inappropriate or inconsistent interactions with a child, MALTREATMENT, ATTACHMENT, AND RELATIONSHIPS 4 failure to recognize or acknowledge a child’s individuality and psychological bond; and the failure to promote a child’s social adaptation. These detrimental interactions between parent and child can have lasting consequences that endure throughout an individual’s lifetime. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, in the fiscal year of 2011, approximately 3.4 million referrals were made to Child Protection Service agencies concerning an estimated 6.2 children. Of these reports, 78.5 percent of the victims suffered neglect, 17.6 percent suffered physical abuse, 9.1 percent of victims suffered sexual abuse, and 9 percent suffered psychological maltreatment. Based on the information gathered for this fiscal year, it was found that 80.8 percent of the abuse perpetrators were parents, 5.9 percent were other relatives, and 4.4 percent were unmarried partners a parent. Women were reported to comprise a larger percentage of perpetrators with a percentage of 53.6 compared to 45.1 percent for men (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013). While these statistics give an idea of how commonly various types of maltreatment occur, they do not indicate whether or not these experiences tend to occur in isolation or accompany one another. According to Kelly (1983), There is undoubtedly a large population of parents who physically harm their children, but do not leave such dramatic evidence of injury. Other parents may cause physical harm to their children, but fail to seek out medical care for it (p. 4). This information highlights the importance of recognizing that instances of child abuse do not always result in serious injuries that require emergency medical attention. However, more research is needed to address instances of maltreatment and their later outcomes. Researchers have found evidence for the co-occurrence of multiple types of abuse. In one such study, Claussen and Crittenden (1991) investigated the relationship among the types and severities of maltreatment as well as the relationship between developmental and MALTREATMENT, ATTACHMENT, AND RELATIONSHIPS 5 demographic factors to psychological maltreatment. Specifically, the researchers collected data from two samples: a “reported” family sample which consisted of families who had been reported to state mandated child protection services and a “community” sample that consisted of normative and “disordered” families who had a child in psychological treatment (Claussen & Crittenden, 1991). These families were interviewed to obtain information concerning the effect of maltreatment on their child’s development and wellbeing. Results indicated that physical and psychological maltreatment were both present in cases referred to child protective services, while psychological maltreatment appeared to occur in the absence of physical maltreatment within the community sample. Additionally, within both samples, the severity of physical injury was uncorrelated with the severity of other types of maltreatment, while the severity of physical neglect was correlated with psychological maltreatment. Given these results, the researchers speculated that the relationship between a child’s age, size, and the severity of injury may account for the lack of a relationship between the severity of physical injury and other types of maltreatment. Furthermore, Claussen and Crittenden (1991) concluded that while the maltreatment data reported for the community sample was not severe enough to warrant the involvement of child protective services, these experiences are still able to contribute to the genesis of developmental disorders in maltreated children. In a similar study, Higgins and McCabe (2000) examined the inter-relationships among various forms of child maltreatment, specifically: sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, neglect, and witnessing family violence. The researchers predicted a high degree of overlap between the five types of maltreatment considered. Adults were recruited from the community to complete measures of their family characteristics including the traditionality of family values, sexual punitiveness of one’s parents, family functioning, and adaptability and MALTREATMENT, ATTACHMENT, AND RELATIONSHIPS 6 cohesion as well as measures of childhood experiences of maltreatment. Results indicated a high degree of overlap exists between the five categories of maltreatment examined, such that these types of experiences tend to occur together. The strongest relationship between any two types of maltreatment was found for psychological and physical abuse. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that if an adult reports experiencing one type of maltreatment during his or her childhood, it is likely he or she experienced multiple types of maltreatment, rather than just one. In addition to examining the inter-relationships between different types of child maltreatment, Higgins and McCabe (2000) explored how a history of maltreatment would be related to one’s adjustment as an adult. The researchers hypothesized that after controlling for one’s family characteristics and background, maltreatment scores would contribute significantly to an individual’s reported adjustment problems. Results indicated that individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment experienced trauma symptoms as well as self-depreciation in adulthood. Reportedly, sexual abuse and psychological maltreatment were most strongly associated with trauma symptoms and an individual’s self-depreciation. The strongest relationship between type of maltreatment and adult adjustment problems was found for psychological maltreatment, although sexual abuse also was found to be related to adjustment problems in adulthood (Higgins & McCabe, 2000). Given these findings, it appears that experiencing maltreatment during one’s childhood can contribute to difficulties in adjusting successfully to stressful situations in one’s adult life. The consequences of childhood experiences of maltreatment may manifest as increased perceptual-motor deficits, lower scores of general intellectual functioning and academic achievement, as well as negative social behaviors in the form of aggression with peers and adults MALTREATMENT, ATTACHMENT, AND RELATIONSHIPS 7 and internalizing psychological problems such as hopelessness and low self-worth during the short-term (Conaway & Hansen, 1989; Fantuzzo, DePaola, Lambert, & Martino, 1991). However, they also may have much more pervasive effects that persist into adulthood. In fact, further understanding of the long term consequences of childhood maltreatment has been gained from the work of Bifulco, Moran, Baines, Bunn, and Stanford (2000). Specifically, Bifulco et al. (2002) explored the relationship between experiences of childhood psychological abuse and reported depression and suicid