Psychology of Mental Health. Gender, Childhood Abuse and Hostile-Helpless States of Mind (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Psychology - General, grade: A, University of Edinburgh, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this study is to replicate the associations between severity of childhood abuse and punitive behaviour, and Hostile-Helpless (HH) states-of-mind; and to assess the gender-dependent effect of childhood abuse severity on HH states-of-mind via punitive behaviour. A secondary data set of longitudinally studied adolescents and their mothers was used. The study used interview and interaction measures as well as information from the state's protective services.

HH states-of-mind levels in late adolescence have been repeatedly linked to higher severity of abuse in childhood, and to higher levels of adolescent punitive behaviour. To our knowledge, whether the link between severity of childhood abuse and adolescent HH states-of-mind is mediated by punitive behaviour has not yet been explored. Due to gender likely having an effect on the link, the present study aims to investigate whether the link between severity of childhood abuse and HH states-of-mind via punitive behaviour differs depending on gender, so that the effect is significant for females, but not males.

HH states-of-mind are a form of an adolescent's or adult's current representations of childhood attachment experiences. 'Attachment' describes the bond between an infant and their primary caregiver, and plays an important role in an individual's functioning from cradle to grave. Infants are predisposed to seek closeness to their attachment figures - usually their predominant caregiver - to increase their chances of survival. In this infant-caregiver relationship, the infant forms a sense of self, and whether they can trust, and rely on their caregiver.

A caregiver's display of frightening or frightened behaviour, or other forms of disrupted affective communication towards the infant, prevents the functional purposes of the attachment system: establishing proximity to the caregiver and reducing fear in stressful situations. Such behaviour can form a disorganized attachment relationship between the caregiver and their child, where the child externalizes their disorganized attachment by showing contradictory approach-avoidance behaviours towards
their caregiver.

Furthermore, disorganized attachment experiences can have a negative impact on the development of autonomy, and individual identity in adolescence. Thus, they can have adverse influences on the adolescent's transition into adulthood as well as leading the development of HH states-of-mind.