The role of childhood maltreatment in the relationship between social anxiety and dissociation: a novel link

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that childhood maltreatment (CM) moderates the relationship between social anxiety and dissociative experiences. To date, few studies have examined the interplay of these three topics to explore how they may all be related. 198 college undergraduates filled out the CTQ-SF, LSAS-SR, and CDS. Results indicated that social anxiety severity significantly predicted dissociative severity, and that CM significantly predicted both social anxiety and dissociative severity. For social anxiety severity, emotional abuse was the only significant predictor among CTQ subscales. Moderation analyses revealed that CM significantly moderated the relationship between social anxiety and dissociation. This study was the first to propose a model of how all three of these variables interact, and may therefore indicate a previously unexplored area of research with both theoretical and clinical implications.