An Examination of the Relationships Among Childhood Trauma, Emotional Invalidation, and Adult Dissociation

Abstract

This study examined the association between childhood trauma and adult dissociative tendencies through analyses of the mediating and moderating effects of emotional invalidation. Participants (N = 185, ages 17-24, 62.2% female) completed various self-report measures assessing experiences of childhood abuse and neglect, childhood emotional invalidation, and current experiences of dissociation. Results indicated that emotional invalidation mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and adult experiences of dissociation and depersonalization. The moderating effect of emotional invalidation was supported only in the cases of emotional abuse and adult depersonalization and emotional neglect and adult depersonalization.