Disentangling Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Quality of Life in Childhood Trauma and Adult Anxiety

Childhood trauma has been linked to deficits in functioning and the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders in adulthood. However, few studies have examined whether transdiagnostic mechanisms relevant to anxiety, namely distress tolerance (DT) and emotion regulation (ER), may differentially explain the relationship between certain types of childhood trauma (i.e., emotional abuse and emotional neglect) and anxiety-related dysfunction. This study examined the relationships among childhood trauma, DT, difficulties in ER, and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of adults (N = 73; 68% female) meeting DSM-IV criteria for generalized or social anxiety disorder. Mediator analyses revealed that DT, but not difficulties in ER, mediated the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and QoL in adulthood; however, when examining emotional abuse instead of neglect, no significant indirect effects were found. Implications for differential pathways for emotional abuse and neglect among adults with anxiety disorde...

童年创伤与成年后的功能缺陷以及焦虑症的发病和持续存在有关。然而，很少有研究探讨与焦虑相关的跨诊断机制，即痛苦耐受（DT）和情绪调节（ER），是否可以不同地解释某些类型的童年创伤（即情感虐待和情感忽视）与焦虑相关功能障碍之间的关系。本研究在符合《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第四版（DSM - IV）中广泛性焦虑障碍或社交焦虑障碍标准的成年人样本（N = 73；68%为女性）中，考察了童年创伤、痛苦耐受、情绪调节困难和生活质量（QoL）之间的关系。中介分析显示，痛苦耐受而非情绪调节困难，在童年情感忽视与成年后生活质量之间起中介作用；然而，当考察情感虐待而非忽视时，未发现显著的间接影响。对焦虑障碍成年人中情感虐待和忽视的不同路径的启示……