A Cross-Sectional Study on Levels of Memory Retrieval in Adults with Expressive Suppression due to Childhood Neglect

Abstract

Background: Childhood neglect, including emotional and physical forms, can impact emotional regulation strategies and cognitive functioning. Expressive suppression, a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, and working memory deficits have been linked to early neglect experiences. However, the specific relationships between childhood neglect, expressive suppression, and working memory remain unclear, particularly in the Indian cultural context. Objective: To investigate the long-term effects of childhood emotional and physical neglect on expressive suppression and its relation to working memory performance in young Indian adults. Participants and setting: Using purposive sampling, 96 adults aged 19-26 years were recruited from Yenepoya School of Allied Health Sciences in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India. Participants were screened for higher expressive suppression tendencies compared to cognitive reappraisal. Methods: Childhood neglect experiences, emotion regulation strategies, and working memory were assessed using standardized questionnaires and neuropsychological tests, including the Digit Span Backward, Trail Making Test, and Stroop Color-Word Test. Results: Correlation analyses revealed negligible associations between childhood neglect and expressive suppression (p > 0.05). Regression models confirmed childhood neglect was not a significant predictor of expressive suppression (p > 0.05). Physical neglect approached significance in predicting poorer performance on the Trail Making Test-B (p <0.05), suggesting potential impacts on cognitive flexibility. Higher childhood neglect showed a trend towards poorer verbal working memory on the Digit Span Backward test (p <0.05). Conclusions: Childhood neglect may selectively impact specific aspects of working memory, particularly the verbal component, but its influence on expressive suppression was not evident in this sample. Further research is needed to elucidate the complex relationships between early adversity, emotion regulation, and cognitive functioning.