Childhood maltreatment affects depression and anxiety: The mediating role of benign envy and malicious envy

Abstract

The influence of childhood maltreatment on depression and anxiety has been reported in many studies, and the mechanism of this influence has been described from different perspectives. However, few research has explored the influence of child maltreatment on depression and anxiety from the perspective of benign/malicious envy. Given that, based on social comparison theory, this study explored the mediating effect of benign envy/malicious envy on child maltreatment, depression, and anxiety. The sample of this study consisted of 2,691 Chinese adolescents. The results showed that benign and malicious envy both played a significant role in mediating the relation between childhood maltreatment and depression and anxiety. Interestingly, we found that there were different mechanisms of benign and malicious envy in this relationship, namely, malicious envy promoted the effects of childhood maltreatment on depression and anxiety, whereas benign envy inhibited the effects of childhood maltreatment on depression and anxiety. These findings not only reveal the different mechanisms between the two socially comparable emotions of benign/malicious envy in the early adverse environment and depression and anxiety, but also provide a specific reference for individuals to regulate the depression and anxiety caused by childhood maltreatment and envy.

Identifying high school risk factors that forecast heavy drinking onset in understudied young adults

“…To this end, our analysis indicates that USYA individuals were associated with unique risk factors recorded during high school that forecast later heavy drinking onset. Specific to the USYA prediction was childhood trauma (sexual and physical abuse), which has been frequently linked to early onset of substance use ( Carliner et al, 2016 , Clark et al, 2010 ) and other psychiatric problems related to anxiety and depression during adolescence ( Li et al, 2022 , Tong et al, 2022 ). In addition, exposure to traumatic events often exerts a negative influence on academic performance during high school, lead to more school absences, and increase the possibility of dropping out of school ( APA, 2021 ).…”

Parental depression moderates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and the recognition of children expressions of emotions

“…Many mediators have been used to explain the development of depressive symptoms following childhood maltreatment experiences. Examples include envy ( 6 ), loneliness and lack of coping skills ( 7 ), scarcer social support ( 8 ), and lower parent-child relationship quality ( 9 ). Recent research has focused more on emotion dysregulation, which refers to an individual’s inability to control or regulate their emotional responses to a stimulus ( 10 – 13 ).…”

Cognitive factors as mediators of the relationship between childhood trauma and depression symptoms: the mediating roles of cognitive overgeneralisation, rumination, and social problem-solving

“…There is evidence that cognitive errors, attribution styles, and other cognitive vulnerabilities may interact with life stress and represent possible etiological factors for depression (Dozois & Hayden, 2022 ; Taylor, 2004 ). Therefore, it is well-established that cognitive factors, such as cognitive distortions and attribution styles, can interact with life stress and childhood trauma, potentially contributing to the development of depression (Klumparendt et al, 2019 ; Li, Tu, et al, 2022 ); cognitive overgeneralisation, rumination, and social problem-solving may be three such concepts.…”