How do physical and emotional abuse affect depression and problematic behaviors in adolescents? The roles of emotional regulation and anger

Abstract

Background: Rates of physical and emotional abuse are high among Chinese adolescents and elicit distinct psychopathologies. However, it remains unclear whether physical and emotional abuse relate to depression and behavior problems similarly or differently. In addition, few studies have examined if they share underlying mechanisms in adolescents.

Objective: This study used longitudinal data to examine the mechanisms underlying the effect of physical and emotional abuse on depression and problematic behaviors through emotional regulation and anger in Chinese adolescents.

Participants and settings: Participants were 1689 adolescents (with age ranging from 12 to 17 years) from junior and senior high schools in Zhejiang Province, China.

Methods: Participants completed a childhood trauma questionnaire and an emotion regulation strategies questionnaire at time 1 (T1), and they completed an anger scale, a depression scale, and a problematic behaviors questionnaire one year later (T2). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the research hypotheses.

Results: Physical abuse had direct positive effects on problematic behaviors but not on depression. However, emotional abuse had direct effects on depression and problematic behaviors, and indirect effects on both psychopathologies through expressive suppression and anger.

Conclusions: Physical and emotional abuse had distinct effects and influencing mechanisms on adolescents' externalizing and internalizing problems. Compared with physical abuse, emotional abuse elicited more harms and subsequent psychopathologies.

Keywords: Anger; Childhood abuse; Depression; Emotion regulation; Problematic behaviors.