Adult Attachment and Mental Representation of Self : Mediators of Childhood Trauma and Depression in Adulthood

초록

This study aimed to investigate psychological pathways in which childhood trauma predict depression in adulthood through adult attachment patterns and mental representation of self by structural equation modeling. A total of 399 college students in the southwest United States participated in this study. The results indicated that both anxious and avoidant attachment patterns and images of self fully mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and neglect and depression of college students. These findings suggest that college students who were more abused and neglected by parental figures in childhood are more likely to show anxious and avoidant attachment patterns and poor images of self. Furthermore, symptoms of depression reported in college years are related directly to insecure attachment patterns and negative self-images rather than childhood abuse and neglect itself. Limitations and future directions of this study were discussed with clinical and educational suggestions.

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